


Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

by IJustGoNormalSometimes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe-Cops, Alternate Universe-Derek is not a wolf person, Christmas Fluff, Derek hates Christmas, Fluff, Ill add more tags if I remember something else, Kate incident mentioned, Kinda, Laura has a Coffee Shop/Bakery, M/M, POV switch, Pining, Slow Burn, Stiles POV and Derek POV, Stiles and Derek are cops, Stiles wants to help, The most self-indulgent thing ive ever written, They don't live in Beacon Hills, Though not exactly canon, Twelve Days Of Christmas, a dash of angst, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 06:03:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJustGoNormalSometimes/pseuds/IJustGoNormalSometimes
Summary: “Is there a specific reason you’re here? A case or something?” Derek asks, taking a sip of his coffee.Stiles shifted a bit, busying himself by making some coffee for himself. He took a sip and grimaced. Laura’s was infinitely better. Derek was still waiting for an answer, so Stiles took a deep breath “I have a, uh... proposal of sorts. For you. Well, for you and me, but I gotta run it past you first” he says.“A proposal?” The heat coming out of Derek’s cup was making his cheeks look flushed and it was utterly adorable. Derek squinted at him “What kind of proposal?”“Well... you know how you hate Christmas?” Derek scowled and Stiles just took that as confirmation and continued “Yeah, so, I figured I wanna make you not hate it anymore.” this whole plan sounded better in his head “It’s a nice holiday, Der, and we’re practically gonna spend it together up until the 25th so I figured... I figured we could maybe make an experiment?”“Stiles...” Derek started, already uncomfortable and exasperated.





	1. Last Christmas, I Gave You My Heart...

**Author's Note:**

> So, remember when I promised my friend M some fluff for Christmas? Wellp. 19k words later I DELIVER.  
> Merry Christmas M. Although this time, I'm also kind of dedicating this to all my friends! Because you guys have been so amazing and i don't know what i would do without you... and this is kind of our first Christmas all together, so I wanted to make it special somehow. 
> 
> So to all of you, who have picked me up when I was down, and heard me out when i needed to vent: I LOVE YOU. 
> 
> I had a SHITFUCKTON of fun writing this. Seriously I've never had more of a challenge. But honestly, this fic would be an absolute total mess if it weren't for my AWESOME FRIEND Kayla. Man, you are the best proofreader in the history, thanks for standing my midnight rants about how this was gonna be an awful fic. It's finally here! 
> 
> Anyways, to anyone else reading, I hope y'all had an awesome Christmas (or happy holidays), and I wish you a Happy New Year!

“Hey Laur?” Stiles approaches the counter.   
  
“Whaddup cop man?” Laura answered, sending a smile his way.  
  
“Can I ask you something?” he says, fiddling a bit with his suit jacket. Laura eyes him weirdly.   
  
“Since when do you ask for permission?”   
  
Stiles gulps “I just- I wanna know why Derek hates Christmas so much? But I get the feeling it’s some heavy shit and he doesn’t really talk about it...” he shrugs out of his coat as he takes a seat “I just- is it bad? Is it serious? Like, is he in actual pain or something? Is he dying?”   
  
Laura turns her eyes to some drink she’s making “You mean, it’s not just because he’s the literal Grinch and he has no soul or sense of fun?”  
  
Stiles rests his elbows on the counter “I have a feeling it’s more than that...” he says, sending Laura a worried look. “I promise I won’t tell?” He tries.   
  
Laura sighs, “Look, Stiles...” she turns around and hands Stiles a drink. How did he not notice she was making his coffee? Stiles takes it gratefully with a half smile, and Laura plants her hands on the counter “I’m not gonna tell you the whole story because it’s really not my place... But you know that song? That Christmas song that plays everywhere?”   
  
“Jingle bells?” Stiles supplies confused.   
  
Laura rolled her eyes “No, you absolute moron. That one that goes ‘last Christmas... I gave you my heart...” she starts singing with a surprisingly nice voice.   
  
Stiles sings along “But the very next day, you gave it away... yeah I know the song.”   
  
Laura looks at him pointedly “Well. That’s exactly what happened to my lil bro... I keep telling him it’s stupid to hate the holiday because of what happened, but I guess for him it’s just a bad reminder...” she sighs “I can’t tell you more than that, and if I were you, I wouldn’t ask Derek...”   
  
Stiles nods thoughtfully, taking a sip from his coffee. “Yeah, I wasn’t planning on doing that.” he says absentmindedly.   
  
Laura is back to cleaning the counters and taking some cookies out of the oven out back. “Then what _are_ you planning on doing?” She asks.   
  
Stiles looks up “I think I can fix it”  
  
Laura squinted at him “Fix what?”   
  
Stiles took a last sip of his coffee and started walking to the door “I’m gonna fix Derek’s Christmas! You say it’s a broken heart? Well I can make him forget all about it, I’m practically a master at forgetting my feelings! You’ll see, he’s gonna have the best Christmas ever!” He says and walks out. He doesn’t hear whatever Laura mutters.   
  
He has work to do. It’s thirteen days for Christmas. A plan is already hatching on his mind.   
  
———  
  
Stiles walks into the precinct the next day, a big smile on his face. He greets everyone as he goes by, with his usual suit and a Santa hat crooked on his head. He spots his partner making coffee on the far end of the kitchen. Stiles tries to not notice how hot he looks, and when he fails, he just sighs resigned to his unrequited crush and walks towards Derek.   
  
“Twelve days ‘til Christmas, Der-Bear!” Stiles greets cheerily.   
  
“I told you not to call me that, Stilinski” Derek answers gruffly. Two years as partners in the force and Derek still managed the exact same bitchface every time. It was eerie.   
  
“Why the grumpy grumpface, Sourwolf?” The nickname had come up after Stiles learned in a Hale family gathering he’d been invited to, that Derek used to be obsessed with wolves and werewolves when he was a teenager. Cora had shared the little nickname they’d used back then to tease him and Stiles had kind of gotten attached to it.   
  
Derek sighs “Because you’re here early, and I won’t get time to actually enjoy my coffee?” He snaps. Stiles knows him well enough to not take offense. Derek was just grumpy in general. That didn’t mean Stiles was gonna stop teasing.   
  
“Oh, c’mon now, Hale. It’s been two years, I know you looooove me” he says with a cheeky grin. Derek mutters something under his breath and Stiles chuckles.   
  
“Is there a specific reason you’re here? A case or something?” Derek asks, taking a sip of his coffee.   
  
Stiles shifted a bit, busying himself by making some coffee for himself. He took a sip and grimaced. Laura’s was infinitely better. Derek was still waiting for an answer, so Stiles took a deep breath “I have a, uh... proposal of sorts. For you. Well, for you and me, but I gotta run it past you first” he says.   
  
“A proposal?” The heat coming out of Derek’s cup was making his cheeks look flushed and it was utterly adorable. Derek squinted at him “What kind of proposal?”   
  
“Well... you know how you hate Christmas?” Derek scowled and Stiles just took that as confirmation and continued “Yeah, so, I figured I wanna make you not hate it anymore.” this whole plan sounded better in his head “It’s a nice holiday, Der, and we’re practically gonna spend it together up until the 25th so I figured... I figured we could maybe make an experiment?”   
  
“Stiles...” Derek started, already uncomfortable and exasperated.   
  
“Oh, c’mon, I’m serious. We have twelve days ‘til Christmas. And today’s our last day here before they make us take our mandatory vacation time. That’s enough free time to do all the cheesy awesome shit people love this time of year! If this flunks I swear I’ll let it go. I’ll never bring it up again, you’ll never even hear me _mention_ Christmas!” Stiles was trying hard to sell his idea. Derek didn’t seem thrilled exactly, more like the stick up his ass was itching or something.   
  
Stiles tried one last time “Worse case scenario, you don’t have fun and I don’t speak of Christmas again... and best case scenario... you have fun?” He didn’t mean it to come out as a question, he’s just really starting to realize how overly stupid this idea is, and he’s getting kind of nervous.   
  
Derek sighs defeated “Stiles-“ his hand comes up to his face, sliding down “Its a stupid holiday, ok? It’s not like I’m hurting myself not liking it. Nobody cares if-“ he starts.   
  
“I care” Stiles replies. Maybe too fast. “I-I mean... it’s- it’s part of the holiday spirit to want everyone feel jolly, you know? It’s not fair that you’re sulking while everyone else is having fun... you upset my Christmasy balance! Besides, we’re partners in crime! Well, I’m stopping crime, but still! It’s kind of my job to see that you have a merry Christmas, too! It’s what Santa would want!” Stiles is babbling.   
  
Derek just sighs “I- I don’t celebrate Christmas Stiles. That’s not gonna change” he says. Stiles pouts and his puppy dog look intensifies. Derek rolls his eyes, looks to the ceiling, probably asking the gods for patience and strength, turns back to Stiles and groans “Fine. But if I walk out on your supposed fun, you can’t get mad at me”   
  
Stiles nods rapidly, a big smile forming on his face “Yesssss, you’re not gonna regret it! The Christmasing starts today, Sourwolf! Chin up. We get out at five, so we got enough time to have some fun.”   
  
A reluctant almost smile tries to move Derek’s lips upwards, but it quickly fades to Derek’s handsome bitch face “Go do your paperwork, Stilinski. If I’m gonna survive twelve days in a row with you, I’m gonna need some peace and quiet to brace myself”   
  
Stiles just nods, makes a hand movement like he’s zipping his mouth shut, locking it and throwing the key away, and winks at Derek before disappearing into the bullpen. Derek sighs. He has a feeling this is gonna go badly. Something _always_ goes wrong on freaking _Christmas_.


	2. Day Twelve, Look at Those Shelves!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Twelve Days of Christmas start with some shopping, of course.

_**DAY 12:** _   


 

“I’m telling you, Hale, it’s gonna be _epic_! I have the next twelve days all planned out. It’s gonna be like the best twelve days of Christmas you’ve ever had!” Stiles says excitedly, practically oozing happiness. Derek is walking calmly beside him, kind of dreading the next few days. He does enjoy Stiles’ company but Christmas is... a sore spot. A bad reminder. Just uncomfortable in general and Derek always feels out of place during this time of year.    
  
“You do realize the twelve days of Christmas start the 25th, right?” Derek comments.    
  
Stiles turns to him “It’s an inverse twelve days of Christmas! It’s a countdown. It’s gonna be awesome, you’ll see.”    
  
He knew that small twinkle in Stiles’ eyes promised nothing but trouble. They’d met two years ago, they were immediately partnered up, and Derek couldn’t have been more irritated. He was a good detective and he’d been partnered with a talkative kid. If only he’d known back then that the spastic kid he’d convinced himself was nothing more than an annoyance, was actually kind, wickedly smart, exceptional at his job and extremely dedicated to his friends. Derek didn’t stand a chance.    
  
His crush had started a little over six months ago. He’d started to think about what it would be like to date Stiles. To kiss him. To hold his hand, to wake up next to him. Suddenly his obsession with the young man’s moles, his sudden urges to just run a hand through Stiles’ hair, and the excuses he made up to spend time together, they all made sense.    
  
And soon enough that attraction and the _mild_ crush he had snowballed into I-think-I’m-in-love territory. And that just couldn’t happen. Derek had sworn to himself he’d never fall in love again. Not after... he just wouldn’t. Falling in love just meant you were too damn blind and people took advantage of that. It was just a stupid whimsical feeling and Derek was over it. Or so he’d thought.    
  
But six months had passed after his revelation and he was no closer to either doing something about it or getting over it. He was frustrated. Every time he caught himself watching Stiles’ lips, or seeking touch, or just generally daydreaming about his partner he chastised himself. This wasn’t going to happen. He’d outgrow it eventually. Maybe if he kept telling himself that, it would come true.    
  
Stiles didn’t make it easy though. Always getting up on Derek’s space, smiling and winking and flirting unabashedly. Derek knew that’s just how Stiles was. It didn’t mean anything. That didn’t stop his heart from going haywire every time Stiles touched his arm or winked at him. It was stupid. It didn’t mean anything and he worked hard everyday to keep his feelings platonic. A thing between them just wouldn’t happen. Ever.    
  
Now, they were walking out of the precinct, both resigned to doing nothing for the next two and a half weeks. Both Derek and Stiles loved their jobs. So much so that they sometimes got sucked into it and, well, long story short, they’d been obligated to take time off. So walking outside in the cold, hearing Stiles babbling about Christmas and stuff, Derek realized he didn’t have the excuse of being busy with something else to bail. He sighed. “So what are we doing today, exactly?” He asks, already regretting having agreed to this at all.    
  
Stiles turned to him “Today we’re gonna start easy. I’m taking you shopping for decorations and stuff.” He smiles, excitedly flailing. “It’s one of the best parts! Just buying nice cozy stuff and pretty lights.”    
  
Derek groans and Stiles sends a scowl his way “C’mon, Derek! You promised you were gonna go with it.” he pouts.    
  
Derek rolls his eyes “That doesn’t mean I’m not gonna bitch about it. Free country.” he shrugs. Stiles chuckles and bumps their shoulders together teasingly.    
  
“Fine, you can be a Sourwolf, but try and keep an open mind, ok? We won’t get anything too Christmasy, I promise” He says. Derek doesn’t answer. 

  
Derek doesn’t comment on the exorbitant amount of people, the loud noises and the too-bright lights. It’s all just too much. Derek’s about to excuse himself from this when Stiles excitedly grabs his hand and takes him into a Walmart.    
  
Immediately after, Stiles leans in and says “I know it’s really loud and annoying but we’ll be quick, ok?” Derek can feel the blush creeping up his cheeks, so he just nods.

  
  
Stiles’ enthusiasm at the trees, the baubles, the colorful tinsel, and the little ornaments and figurines is, honestly, heartwarming. He goes from one place to another, just grabbing stuff. It seems like he’s not even paying attention, but when Derek glances down at the cart, everything is matched in color and style. Derek actually likes it. The designs and the little figurines Stiles picks. But the reason Derek has stuck around is that, since they got in, Stiles didn’t let his wrist go. He’s been dragged around and he’s not exactly hating it as much. He doesn’t love Christmas by a long shot. That bitter reminder is always gonna be there. But at least spending time with Stiles is as soothing and comfortable as ever.    
  
When they finally get out it’s very dark outside, so they decide to go get some dinner before going back to their respective places. Stiles is babbling about what he bought for Derek “So we got the lights, the good ones that won’t just go and die on you before Christmas, we got a small tree, some little ornaments that if you ask me look adorable, we bought like a ton of tinsel, all those Christmas trinkets I showed you- why do I feel like I’m missing something?”    
  
Derek rolls his eyes “We bought way more than enough Stiles, I’m sure it was nothing important. Besides, I never said I was actually gonna put up all this at my place.”    
  
Stiles smirks “Smartass. I’m probably taking most of this stuff, but I think we could light up your house a bit. And if you really don’t like it you can just give the lights back to me.” he shrugs. “My place could use some more lights.”    
  
“Then take it” Derek says. It was nice to go shopping with Stiles, so if he just takes the damn decorations everything can go back to normal.    
  
“Oh ho, nice try Sourwolf but you’re not gonna get out of this so easy.” Stiles smirks.    
  
They get to a small diner and eat something, and then they both take everything to Derek’s place, where he stashed it on a corner. Derek sighs when he catches a glimpse of a green ornament with lots of glitter and his stomach turns uncomfortably. He sees Stiles out and mutters “You’re not gonna change my mind, you know that, right?”    
  
Stiles smiles, backing to his car “Have a little faith, Hale”, and with that, he’s gone.    



	3. Day Eleven, Am I in Heaven?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YAY DIABETES!

“Remind me what we’re doing here again?” He asks, slumped against the counter.   
  
“Aw, it’s good to see you too, Der-Bear” replies a cheery voice. Laura had owned this small coffee place for about three and a half years. It was doing well and Derek supported her in whatever he could. But his sister was a menace. Quick to tease and prod. And with Stiles present? Derek was sure to have a headache when he was finally allowed to go back home.   
  
Stiles takes a seat beside Derek, flailing as he struggles to remove his coat and stay in the small chair at the same time. Derek was ready to pick up his friend from the ground any moment now. Stiles turns to him, still struggling to get his right hand out of his coat “It’s our first stop in our quest for Day 11!” Stiles says, as if that explained anything.   
  
Derek raises an eyebrow, so Stiles continues “C’mon Der... I know you got a killer sweet tooth, so you’re gonna like today. We’re going all over town to get the best Christmas pastries!” With a big grin, he finally gets out of his coat.   
  
Derek sighs “Yeah, whatever. I meant why are we in my sister’s coffee shop, of all places?”   
  
“Because,” Laura pipes up, handing Stiles a bag “I make some good ass pastries little bro.”   
  
Stiles gets up, grabs his coat, says “Thanks Laur!” and starts for the door, leaving Derek a bit confused.   
  
“We’re not eating here?”   
  
“What? No! We still gotta get some other stuff, and then we’ll eat at your place while we watch the best movie of all times” Stiles says cheerily.   
  
Derek grunts as he gets out of his seat. “We’re gonna eat Christmas pastries while we watch Psycho?”   
  
Stiles rolls his eyes “No, you doof. We’re watching Elf!” He jerks his head towards the door. “C’mon.”   
  
“Bye Laur,” he mutters as he moves to the door. He doesn’t miss the whip sound Laura makes.   
  
Nor does he miss her shouting “Have fun, you two! Use protection!” Derek’s ears must be neon red so he just flips her off and gets outside.   
  
Stiles seems oblivious to what just happened. His hair is mussed and his grin is wide. His whiskey eyes twinkle with the white morning light all around them, and the moles covering his face stand out against the soft color of his skin. Derek realizes he’s staring so he clears his throat “So where to now?”   
  
Stiles blinks and shakes his head “Oh, uh... I know the way, you just gotta come along. If you get lost, just follow the smell of Christmas” He declares dramatically. Derek rolls his eyes at that, but follows behind. They get on the Jeep and drive away, Stiles happily commenting on why Elf is the best/worst movie of their generation.   
  
They go to 3 other pastry shops. And he’s not allowed to look at what they’ve bought in any of them until they get to Derek’s. Derek doesn’t care. He doesn’t. He’s not curious. Not even a little.   
  
When they finally get to his place, Derek gets his keys out and goes to the door. He can hear Stiles’ teeth chattering from where he’s standing. “You should really buy another car and get rid of that junk.” Derek comments.   
  
Stiles puts a hand to his chest in offense “Hey! Don’t talk about Roscoe like that! Not cool man. That Jeep’s like my best friend! You don’t get rid of best friends Derek!”   
  
Derek’s door opens and he mutters “I’ll get rid of you.” as he goes inside.   
  
“I heard that!” Stiles calls.   
  
Derek goes to his closet to find some thick sweaters to get them both warm, and throws one to Stiles when he finds him in his kitchen, who gratefully takes it and immediately puts it on. Derek tries not to think about what Stiles wearing his clothes does to him.   
  
“So, am I allowed to see what we bought now?” Derek asks, putting his sweater on.   
  
“Ok, Sourwolf. First we got Christmas pie!” Stiles says, uncovering a whole pie out of one of the bags.   
  
“How is it Christmas related?” Derek asks. He’s never seen anything like it, but that doesn’t make it Christmas material.   
  
“Because! It’s chocolate pie but it’s got candy canes on top of it... and it’s kinda pepperminty... you’re gonna love it.” Derek shrugs. Chocolate mint pie is good, so Derek’ll give it a shot.   
  
“Next up,” Stiles continues “We got the absolute ultimate super duper fruit cake! I know what you’re thinking, they’re usually gross. But I’m telling you, it’s _orgasmic_!” Stiles rolls his eyes to the back of his head and Derek tries to not fixate on that last word.   
  
“And?” Derek prompts.   
  
“And, we got the best chocolate-covered pretzels in town, courtesy of your big sis. I know they’re not exactly Christmasy but I couldn’t resist.” Derek nods, they were the best.   
  
Derek nods. This doesn’t seem overly Christmasy. Derek can do this. “So that’s all?”   
  
“Oh and I bought some of the best hot cocoa I’ve ever had in my life. I thought you’d like it.” Stiles shrugs, moving easily in the kitchen, reaching a couple of mugs and setting to make some hot chocolate for them both.   
  
Derek takes some plates and forks, and a lot of napkins, and goes to the living room. He just keeps wondering what the hell is going through Stiles’ mind. Why is he doing this? What does he have to gain? Is he playing some kind of prank on Derek or something? Laura seemed in on it, and she wouldn’t allow a prank- not this time of year at least. She knows not to mess with him like that on Christmas.   
  
Stiles walks in with two mugs and hands one to Derek, sitting beside him on the couch, and grabbing the PS4 control. He exhales a shaky breath as he pulls up the movie. “You still cold?” Derek asks.   
  
“Yeah, man, it’s freezing” Stiles replies, rubbing his hands together for warmth. The younger man chances a look at Derek, “How are you not dying from the cold?!”   
  
Derek shrugs “I guess I just run hotter or something” he says, grabbing some cookies and putting them on his plate.   
  
“Of course you do” Stiles mutters, and shoves his hands on Derek’s neck for warmth. It’s not something they _do_ , and it makes Derek blush. Stiles groaning is not helping either. Derek just stays there, gaping. “Oh my gosh, how are you so warm, you’re like a furnace!” Stiles says, asking his hands back and blowing warm air on them.   
  
Derek tried to rub two neurons together to say something, but he comes out blank. He sputters a bit and then finally answers “I- I can fetch a blanket?”   
  
Stiles nods “Sure, I’ll pull up the movie.”   
  
Derek gets up to get the warmest blanket he has, and gets back to the couch. He must be crazy but he feels like Stiles is sitting closer than before. Derek hands him the blanket “Here.”   
  
Stiles thanks him and unfolds the blanket, quickly draping himself. He starts up the movie and scoots closer to Derek, extending some of the fabric “You wanna share?”   
  
Derek wasn’t cold. Not anymore at least. But for whatever reason he nodded and Stiles scooted even closer and laid the blanket on both their laps.   
  
It took about a half hour for Derek to relax in his seat and actually begin to eat. Stiles is calmly watching the movie, occasionally making silly comments. It felt familiar, like their usual movie nights. At least, up until the point Stiles starts dozing off short after the beginning of their third stupid Christmas movie.   
  
Stiles’ head slowly goes limp, and finds Derek’s shoulder. Derek goes rigid, but Stiles doesn’t seem conscious enough to notice. This shouldn’t be happening. His heart shouldn’t be going wild. He wants to push Stiles away, go back to the comfortable friendship they have but this feels somewhat huge and earth shattering and Derek must be hyperventilating a bit because this can’t happen again.   
  
Stiles just mumbles in his sleep, and burrows his head further. He doesn’t know what he’s doing to Derek. Stiles doesn’t really want to cuddle with Derek, he doesn’t even know what’s going on. Derek’s just reading too much into it. With a full stomach and the soft sounds of the movie on the background, Derek’s panic turns to heavy eyelids. And he drifts off to sleep.   
  
He wakes up hours later. The TV is off and the blanket is draped over him, where he lays on the couch. Stiles is gone. Derek sits up, looking around. Stiles picked everything up and left while he slept. A small smile appears on his face.   
  
He spots a small piece of paper on the table. **_'Sleep tight Sourwolf, we’re baking cookies tomorrow! YAY DIABETES'_**


	4. Day Ten, Going Back Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baking cookies is THE SHIT. Try it.

_**DAY 10:** _

 

  
The next day finds a very excited Stiles knocking on Derek’s door at 10 in the morning. Derek wakes up, puts on a hoodie, because apparently the house cooled down considerably during the night, and walks out, zipping it over the tank top he’s slept in after Stiles left.    
  
“What are you doing here?” asks Derek, not quite annoyed but confused and definitely grumpy without his morning coffee. One eye open and the other half shut he assessed the ball of energy in front of him, from the navy blue beanie to the cooking supplies in a large bag on his hand.    
  
Stiles takes the rhetorical question as his cue to enter the apartment (more like a loft but whatever), gets his shoes off and approaches the kitchen counter, where he starts taking stuff out of bags. “We’re cooking today,” Stiles says as a greeting “and your kitchen is way more equipped than mine. Also if we make a mess, I can just bail early.” he shrugs, sending a smile Derek’s way. Derek really should get another friend. One that’s not gonna make holiday messes and expect him to clean up.    
  
He just grumbles something about coffee and moves to start a pot, but Stiles mutters “Oh, right!” He looks for something in the bag, and finds a large coffee cup from Laura’s place. He hands it together “Black, with one sugar and a splash of caramel, just like you like it.” he says, and quickly turns his attention back to the cookie stuff.    
  
Derek takes the cup, stares at it, then at Stiles, then at the cup. Dumbfounded. It feels like something so trivial, Stiles remembering his coffee order. His heart did a thing, and his chest felt suddenly warm, Derek tried to shake it off, before taking a big gulp. The burn helped calm him down somewhat. He was being an idiot.    
  
Memories from his past stupidity spring to mind and Derek instantly recoils to a corner of the kitchen. He can’t go through that again, he won’t. He promised himself he wouldn’t. He needed to keep that in mind. A sour feeling twisted his insides, and a deep frown took over his face. He was done with this. Stiles would understand someday, but Derek just couldn’t do this. _He didn’t want to_. He didn’t want to like Christmas again. He needed to remind himself of what he’d gone through.    
  
He turned to Stiles, intent on just telling him to go away, that he wasn’t up for this stupid experiment anymore. That is, until Stiles breaks the silence “So...” he says assessing the pile of ingredients and assorted kitchen tools. “I got everything for Christmas cookies because it’s part of the experience, but Laura told me this morning you loved brownies, so I got some stuff for those, but I asked her here later to help with ‘em- I barely have an idea what I’m doing with the cookies.” he says, chuckling at himself. Stiles then turns and looks him up and down “You can’t wear that for baking, dude. Go put on something comfortable and disposable.”    
  
Derek gets mildly sidetrack from his train of thought “Disposable?”    
  
Stiles smirks “I forget you’ve never seen me cook. It’s gonna be a mess. A BIG mess, so yeah. Whatever Henley you choose, make sure it’s your least favorite.” and with that, he makes a motion with his hands as if to shoo Derek. The older man has nothing left to do but obey, reluctantly choosing a striped black and white shirt that he doesn’t like very much, and some old sweat pants, and goes back outside, where somehow, in the three minutes he took to change, Stiles already made a mess with the flour.    
  
“What the hell are you doing?” Derek asks, more curious than anything to know how exactly did Stiles manage to get flour on his face and hair in seconds.    
  
Stiles looks at him wide-eyed and guilty “I wanted to see what the flour smelled like and I got some in my nose and I sneezed-”    
  
Despite himself, Derek snorts and a small smile curls his lip “Flour doesn’t smell like anything.”    
  
“Well, now I _know_!” adds Stiles defensively. Then he snorts too and they start to laugh at the stupidity of Stiles’ mistake, which was sure to be the first of many.    
  
“Fine, fine. No more playin’ around, Hale. We got work to do.” Stiles pipes up, composing himself.    
  
Derek sighs, he really isn’t up for this. This feels so comfortable and light it’s making Derek overly paranoid, and the knot in his stomach keeps getting bigger and bigger. “Stiles...”    
  
As soon as he looked up to Derek’s face, Stiles’ big smile turned into creased eyebrows and pursed lips. Derek couldn’t get much past the other man’s name, so Stiles took the turn “Look, Der. I don’t know what happened that made you hate Christmas so much. A- and you don’t have to tell me!” He says bringing his hands up and flailing a bit “But the twelve days are meant as a distraction of... whatever it is” Stiles adds shrugging. “Give it a try? If you’re still not feeling up for it in awhile I can leave.”    
  
Derek sighed, brushing a hand up and down his hair. On the one hand, he didn’t want whatever this feeling was that settled deep in his stomach whenever he saw Stiles, or was around Stiles, or heard Stiles.... but on the other hand, something in Derek craves the company. He’d usually seek for it with Laura or at work, but since those are not available at the moment, he could actually use the distraction. Besides, baking was soothing, and if he didn’t think about them as Christmas cookies, he thought he could do this.    
  
“Fine. Where’s the recipe?” Derek asks, approaching the counter.    
  
“Right here” Stiles says, pointing at his head. “Stilinski family recipe.” he smiles. With a hip check, he moves Derek a bit farther away “Now give me some space, Sourwolf. You can be my sou-chef, and pass me the ingredients. We’ll be done in no time.”   
  
Four hours later, Derek and Stiles are looking at approximately five hundred cookies from the couch, finishing up the last of the Chinese food they had for lunch.    
  
“Now what?” Asks Derek, eyeing the literal mountain of gold brown cookies with a sense of dread.    
  
“Now comes the best part... Decorating!” Stiles says, taking the last swing of his beer and standing up, stretching a bit and walking towards the cookies. “I’m gonna whip up some icing and you gotta figure out what colors we need... I think I brought some food coloring...” he adds, looking through his bag to find them.    
  
Derek straightens up with a grunt, and cleans up the table as Stiles gets started on the royal icing. It’s all going smoothly, up until Stiles asks “Hey, how do you make black?”    
  
Derek looks up from his perfect pine tree green icing, “I don’t know, mix all the colors?” He says shrugging, adding the green to the rainbow colors they have already mixed.    
  
“All right smarty pants, I’ll try it your way.” Stiles says, grabbing red, blue and green coloring to start. Derek’s done with the rest of the colors, so he kind of drifts closer to see what Stiles is mixing.    
  
“That looks purple” he comments, and Stiles turns to him with a raised eyebrow   
  
“It was your idea to mix the colors, _genius_... besides, I don’t think it’s mixed completely.” he mutters.    
  
Derek’s looking at it though, and he thinks it could use some more blue, if anything to darken the purple enough to pass as black. He grabs the blue coloring and Stiles takes the bowl away, hugging it to his chest “Hey! Don’t go adding stuff to my icing!”   
  
Derek rolls his eyes “I’m just gonna put in some more blue so that it goes darker.” he says, once again reaching for the bowl.    
  
Stiles just pulls it away again “But I’m telling you, I put enough! I just gotta mix it better...”    
  
Derek smirks “Fine, let me see it”. Stiles sticks his tongue out a bit, mixing energetically with the little bendy spatula and finally leans closer.    
  
“See? It’s already kinda-“ as soon as the bowl is close enough, Derek puts in three drops of blue coloring inside, a big smug smile on his face.    
  
Stiles gasps dramatically, turning wide eyes at Derek, which soon morph into a frowny pout. Without warning, Stiles dips two fingers in the icing and smears it on Derek’s cheeks.    
  
Derek raises his eyebrows in surprise “Why did you do that?!”    
  
“You ruined my icing!” Stiles replies, the beginnings of a smug smirk quirking his lips. So, without thinking, he reaches blindly for a bowl, and smears pink icing on Stiles’ forehead.    
  
“Wha- Hey!” Stiles protests, grabbing more icing and flicking it at Derek’s face. They both look at each other, something akin to determination glinting in both their eyes.    
  
Their little quarrel turns into a full on icing war, grabbing bowls as their weapons and outright throwing big blobs of colored icing at each other.    
  
“Stop!” Derek tells when Stiles grabs his perfect green icing bowl.    
  
Stiles gapes “You started it!” And with that, he dips his dirty fingers on the icing and flicks a big blob that lands on Derek’s chest. Derek glares and charges at Stiles, wrestling the bowl off his hands. They both end up on the floor, the bowl having landed (thankfully) upright on the floor somewhere near them.    
  
Since Derek is on top, he grabs both of Stiles arms with one hand while he pushes the bowl far enough that Stiles can’t reach it anymore. Stiles tries to wrestle out of the hold, but Derek grabs each arm with both his hands and sits on top of Stiles, pinning him to the ground.    
  
Stiles glares, but his tongue peaks out to taste some of the icing on his cheek, and Derek honestly can’t help but follow the movement with his eyes. Stiles catches his eyes, and they both stare at each other panting. Suddenly he’s very aware of their position, and how close their faces are, and how if he just leaned a little further he could-    
  
“I’m here!” Laura’s sing-song voice comes from the door. Derek always forgets she has a key.    
  
Derek clears his throat and quickly moves off Stiles. “In the kitchen.” he calls to his sister, as he hauls Stiles back up.    
  
Laura comes in, takes one look at the both of them, at the kitchen, and then back at them. Then she starts laughing so hard she has to grab on to the counter to keep upright. “Jesus Christ, guys! At least tell me there’s some icing left that I don’t have to _scoop_ from your faces!”   
  
Stiles nods, wide eyed, but his mouth is starting to smile. Laura’s laugh is kind of contagious. “Yeah I can make some more, and we can-“    
  
Laura sobers up, wiping a stray tear with her finger “Oh no mister. You’re both gonna take a bath and burn those clothes. Then you’re gonna come back and clean this mess. I’ll take care of the icing” she says, grabbing the ingredients and walking to the dining table. She turns back to see them both still standing in the middle of the kitchen “Chop Chop! The cookies aren’t gonna decorate themselves and we still gotta make some brownies!”    
  
That spurs them both into action. Derek walking to his room and Stiles trailing behind him. Derek grabs some of his old clothes and a towel and turns to Stiles to give it to him. Stiles is just standing up there, working very hard to contain the guffaws of laughter Derek knows so well. Derek defensively asks “What?”    
  
Stiles just cracks up, bending over, gasping in between his laughter “You... You look like... what unicorns poop”    
  
Derek starts chuckling as well, shaking his head “Yeah well, you look like unicorn _barf_.” He rolls his eyes at Stiles laughing even harder at that, but he can’t help the smile that’s still on his face “Take this. You can shower in the guest room, dumbass.”    
  
Stiles takes the clothes wordlessly, and Derek can still hear him chuckling until he shuts the door to the guest room.    
  
They both get showered, dressed, and have the mess cleaned up in an hour, and they find Laura already decorating cookies.    
  
“Grab a pipe and go crazy.” is the only instruction she gives them.    
  
The rest of the evening goes much smoother. Stiles takes the job of retelling their epic war to Laura, and they all have a good laugh at it.    
  
“Why did you even start the whole thing?” Laura asks, still chuckling from the whole story.    
  
Stiles just shrugs “You know how when you’re scared you make bad decisions? I was scared Derek was ruining my precious icing!”    
  
Derek rolls his eyes, and Stiles bumps his feet under the table. Derek looks up to find Stiles smiling warmly at him. 

  
  
Derek spends the rest of the evening pretending he doesn’t notice the pointed looks he gets from Laura.


	5. Day Nine, That's Not Mine!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ugly Sweaters and Awkward not-dates

_**DAY 9:** _

 

Derek wakes up the next morning with a start. When nothing seems out of the ordinary in his room besides the lingering scent of cookies, he flops his head back down on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. He has the feeling that he’s supposed to be doing something today.  
  
He tries to close his eyes and fall back to sleep but to no avail, so grunting, he grabs his phone and checks his messages. No new texts from Stiles. Derek looks at the phone in suspicion.  
  
Could it be that Stiles was gonna leave him alone today? He strained his ear to try and hear if someone was knocking the door or something. But it was quiet. Too quiet. With a squint, he sat up, brushed a hand through his hair and padded out to his living room. He took a cookie and munched on it thoughtfully.  
  
It was almost noon and Stiles hadn’t even texted. Maybe he /was/ gonna leave Derek alone today. Huh. Great.  
  
Derek shook his head. He wasn’t feeling disappointed. Of course not. He was gonna be able to do all the things he wanted to do today. Like... like his laundry. And watching Sherlock... and cooking dinner... and...  
  
He’d figure it out. He was being stupid.  
  
He went back to his room to take a shower and clear his head. The cold water helped a little, and when he got out he felt better. He walked out to get some clothes and that’s when he heard it. The TV. He didn’t turn the TV on.  
  
He finishes pulling the black Henley over his head and walks out of the room, his shoulders already tensing. He finds Stiles, sprawled on his couch, eating cookies and oblivious to his presence in the room.  
  
“What the _hell_?” Derek asks out loud, and Stiles startles, almost falling off the couch as he turns to see him  
  
“You ready?” Stiles asks happily.  
  
Derek squints “Ready for what? And how did you get in?”  
  
Stiles shrugs “I knocked, you didn’t answer. Door was unlocked.” He turns back to turn the TV back off “I heard you were in the shower so I made myself comfortable.” he grins.  
  
Derek sighs “What are you- nevermind. I don’t even wanna know” he says, walking to his kitchen to fix himself another cup of coffee.  
  
Stiles just jumps up and walks after him “So, you ready?” He asks again.  
  
Derek just raises his eyebrows behind his mug in question. Stiles rolls his eyes “It’s day 9, Sourwolf! You’re helping me choose the ugliest sweater today!”  
  
“You say that like you actually expected me to know.” Derek deadpans “You never shared your stupid plan with me.”  
  
Stiles puts a hand to his chest “Hey! You had fun yesterday with the cookies! Have some respect for the plan Hale, _sheesh_. Besides, if I’d given you the plan you just wouldn’t have gone along with it.”  
  
Derek rolls his eyes “I’m not going along with it... you’re kind of dragging me places.”  
  
Stiles slaps his arm playfully “C’mon! It’s just gonna be a couple small stores today. It’s gonna be a blast, I promise. You’ll get to see me model the worst of Christmas fashion!” says Stiles, grinning from ear to ear, like spending his money on practically unwearable obnoxious clothes is actually worth it.  
  
Derek glares, hoping Stiles’ll back down and leave him be. At least for the day. But Stiles just sends him the puppy eyes and adds “I’ll buy you sushi?”  
  
Derek _is_ in the mood for sushi. So he just groans in response and goes to get his jacket. “Two stores Stiles. I mean it. And then I'm bailing.”  
  
———  
  
It’s not two stores. And Derek doesn’t bail. Watching Stiles jumping from store to store and choosing the most hideous sweaters he can find, just so he can try them on and model them to Derek, it’s keeping Derek... entertained. A bit.  
  
“Der, I think I found _The One_ ” Stiles pipes up from behind yet another changing room. Derek is starting to wonder if sushi is really worth it.  
  
“Then buy it and let’s go have lunch. I’m starving.” he deadpans.  
  
Stiles peaks his head from the curtain “You can’t rush ugly-sweater buying, Derek! It’s a process!” and with that, he comes out wearing the most horrible piece of clothing Derek has ever seen.  
  
It’s a mixture of colors, mustard and bright pink being the ones that stand out the most. It’s like a psychedelic nightmare with Rudolph in the center, smiling weirdly and with a big red nose that Derek can tell will probably light up with some hidden button. Derek didn’t even know there was neon yarn.  
  
“You’re not wearing that outside” Derek declares, sinking deeper into the couch he claimed when Stiles entered the store about twenty minutes ago.  
  
“Of course I am, it’s part of the charm.” he says, thoughtfully addressing himself in the mirror. “Yup. This is the one.” he turns back to Derek with a bright smile “You sure you don’t want one?”  
  
The fact that he asks is hilarious enough that he doesn’t dignify it with more than a snort. “Your loss,” Stiles shrugs. “I’m serious though-” he starts, not giving a shit as he takes the sweater off and walks shirtless towards the pile of unwanted sweaters Derek has to his side. Derek tried to breathe normally and focus on what Stiles is gonna say, as the young man reaches over him to grab one of the top sweaters. “I think you’d look good on this one... I mean, you look good on everything, don’t get me wrong.” he sends a wink Derek’s way, and Derek pointedly ignores how his breath hitches slightly “But you’d look like a really hot jelly bean in this one. I could buy it for you.” he says, placing the sweater in front of his face, and closing one eye, trying to imagine Derek wearing it.  
  
Derek clears his throat “I’m not wearing that shit Stiles. It should be illegal to make sweaters that look like Frosty the Snowman on acid”  
  
Stiles chuckles “Fine fine,” going back to the changing booth and getting his t-shirt, talking as he pulls it over his head “Get your grumpy ass up and let’s go pay for this.”  
  
They both go pay for the ugly ass sweater and then head out, searching for a good sushi place nearby. They find one that looks promising and go inside. They have lunch, bantering all the while about one of the crazy cases they had a while back.  
  
“I’m _telling_ you, dude! That guy was insane, I knew from the first moment I saw him!” Stiles says chuckling.  
  
“Nice of you to inform the rest of us, then” Derek replies chuckling. The case they’re talking about involved a man that was weirdly obsessed with wolves and claimed himself to be a werewolf. He started stealing pelts and stuff and Derek and Stiles were assigned to the case. It was their most peculiar and weird ass case, but unforgettable somehow because when they entered the house, the amount of... stuff they found was overwhelming. From a very large collection of stuffed little wolves to friggin’ jars filled with what looked like fake wolf teeth. It was... odd. It was all even more odd when they found the guy on the basement, with dog hair taped to his lower half and face, and no eyebrows. They remember it to this day.  
  
“Seriously, though, I-“ Stiles stops as the waitress comes by with the check to thank her.  
  
“It’s no problem,” she says smiling “I hope you enjoyed your date.”  
  
Derek’s heart stopped for a second. This wasn’t a date. This couldn’t be a date. No, Derek didn’t want this to be a date, it wasn’t- he didn’t- No. No no no. While his brain tried to restart and his chest fought to unclench, Stiles took the lead “Pfff, I wish!” he chuckles “But Nah, it’s not a date, we’re just friends.” Stiles says with a not so convincing smile on his face. Derek shakes his head minutely, trying to tamp down the hope that what he sees in Stiles’ face is disappointment. It’s _not_. It’s Stiles just feeling uncomfortable that the girl assumed they were dating. Because Stiles doesn’t feel that way about him. And Derek’s _fine_ with that.  
  
They walk out and part ways, Stiles not failing to remind him that he was gonna show up tomorrow at noon. Derek nodded and walked back to his place.  
  
The chilly air and the soothing walk both help make him feel more in control.

  
  
He’s letting himself go, letting himself believe some things that aren’t true. He needs to get his shit together.


	6. Day Eight, It's Not Too Late (for Fireworks)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FIREWOOOORRRRKKSSSS

_**DAY 8:** _

 

The whole day goes by in a blur. Derek wakes up late, after spending almost all night trying to fall asleep. The memories of years past plaguing his every thought, and that uncomfortable burning feeling in his chest fills him with fear, regret and guilt. He can still see the flames if he closed his eyes hard enough. He can hear his dad calling for his mom- he can hear the firefighters swarming around him. He thought he’d lose them. He thought he’d lose everything.   
  
If they hadn’t been fast enough, if Derek hadn’t woken up when he did and yelled for his family, if he hadn’t met _her_...   
  
Derek spent all his day like trying to walk through molasses. Slow and exhausted already, getting out of bed felt like a chore. It felt like any other Christmas had felt in the last six years. Empty and lonely and just plain suffocating.   
  
He’d been sitting on his couch, trying to read the same line for the last ten minutes, when a knock came. Derek didn’t even had it in him to yell that it was unlocked. The words just weren’t... coming out.   
  
Like he’d suspected, Stiles walked inside and stopped when he spotted Derek on the couch. It was eerie and kind of heartwarming how Stiles could tell most of the time how Derek was just by looking at him. Most people just saw his resting murderer/bitch face and backed the fuck off. Stiles was different.   
  
The younger man walked silently to the couch, sat down beside Derek, far enough to not be invasive, and turned on the TV silently.   
  
Derek took that as permission of sorts and returned to the book in his hands. Something settled in his mind and he was actually able to read. He got through a chapter and was starting the second one when Stiles spoke up “You wanna go stargazing?”   
  
Stiles wasn’t even looking at him when Derek turned. His eyes were glued to the screen. He really didn’t feel like talking so the silence stretched as he considered the offer. They’d done it sometimes, stargazing. After a particularly difficult case, or a tragic one, they just drove out to a clearing and stared at the sky until their eyes hurt and then silently they got back in the car and went home. It was always pleasant and liberating.   
  
Stiles turned to him, seeking for an answer, so Derek nodded.   
  
They went out in complete silence and drove up to their clearing, completely isolated from the town and the people. Derek felt his breathing come out easier when they got to the clearing. The darkness, the solitude. Everything was just... quiet. And nice.   
  
Stiles jumped out of the Jeep and leaned back on the hood, using one of his arms to pillow his head. Derek followed, leaving a few inches between them. They both stayed there for what felt like hours. An eternity just watching the sky. His thoughts were quick to reappear, clouding the peacefulness he’d found. Soon enough the silence wasn’t quiet anymore. It was deafening and hurtful and... and...   
  
And Stiles was hopping off the hood, walking back to the trunk of his car. Derek can hear some shuffling and then he hears what sounds like a lighter. Then there’s some sizzling.   
  
Derek hops off the hood too, following the sound and finds Stiles holding a sparkler with a broad grin and soft eyes. “You want one?” He asks, offering Derek the sparkler that’s almost burned out, and Stiles quickly moves to turn on another one.   
  
“I brought a shitton of other stuff if you wanna go wild and probably get arrested with me.” Stiles grins. He’s not pushing for anything. He’s got no expectations of Derek actually saying yes or no. It’s a simple request. It’s something that Stiles would simply enjoy doing with him.   
  
So Derek considers it for a couple of moments, as he watches the sparkler wither and die in his hand. The lights are soothing and the sound is pleasant. It doesn’t smell like smoke or like fire, it’s not that heavy smell that makes Derek heave every time he catches a whiff of it. It’s more of a softer scent. It doesn’t remind him of the fire, it reminds him of his family trips to Central America when he was little, and the beautiful lights he saw there during the holidays.   
  
Derek turns his head looking at the cardboard box full of fireworks and he decides he just doesn’t want to know where they came from. They look harmless. A lot of sparklers mostly, some cone-shaped things, and a couple of big blocks of cardboard that look like they’re gonna paint the sky with explosions of color. Derek smiles, grabbing a box of the cone things and hands it to Stiles wordlessly.   
  
After that, Stiles goes to town, using a small black lighter to fill the air with big bangs and in the dark, the bright lights are just a pleasant contrast. Derek finally ventures out and lights up some of the smaller ones they have. It’s fun and soothing and kind of exhilarating. Without a word having been exchanged, Derek and Stiles find themselves chuckling and grinning widely. They must spend a couple of hours just lighting one after the other. Giggling at each other as they sprint to put some distance between themselves and the explosions of fire and light behind them.   
  
Finally Stiles sends him a look, holding one of the big boxes that are surely gonna make a racket, if they weren’t doing it before. Derek eyed it reluctantly... police were sure to arrive if they lit that one up, and it was gonna be a little awkward to explain to their colleagues what they were doing lighting illegal fireworks in the middle of nowhere.   
  
Stiles smiles slyly “We light it and run away in the car. We’re still gonna be able to see it from far away.”   
  
Derek tilts his head consideringly, his lips pursed to the side. He sighs, Stiles is gonna do it sooner or later, if the absolute glee in his face just holding the black and blue box is anything to go by. So he shrugs and smiles a bit up at Stiles, silently giving his permission. Stiles’ grin grows wide and his eyes go crazy “Get in the car and I’ll light it up!” Stiles says, and runs to a dirt patch not to far away to place the box. “On three!” he yells.   
  
Derek can’t help the excited nod he gives Stiles. “One!” Stiles yells, holding the lighter tight in his hand.   
  
“Two!” He turns back to Derek, and draws some fire.   
  
“Three!” And with that, he places the little flame on the fuse, and as soon as it starts sparkling, Stiles sprints to the car. In seconds, there’s a loud BAM and then the sky is full of little red specks. And then, one after the other, come explosions of green and white specks and Derek is smiling looking up, exhilaration and giddiness coursing through him as he turns to Stiles.   
  
Stiles is still staring at the fireworks, a bit entranced by the beauty of it all. His face lit up by the lights and a soft awed expression, his jaw slack. His moles were visible from where Derek was standing, still unable to move inside the car. Stiles’ eyes glimmered and Derek felt something akin to his breath being punched out of him. He knew the fireworks were still going up and exploding, but he couldn’t take his eyes away from Stiles.   
  
Stiles turned to him and caught him staring, but he just smiled and yelled “Get in the car!” And with that, they got inside and drove away. They could hear sirens approaching but they were in the clear, so the sighed and watched as the last explosion of purple painted the sky. The quiet that came after didn’t feel loaded or suffocating. It felt familiar and satisfying. It felt like home. Derek tried not to think too much about what that meant. They both chuckled all the way home, feeling like little kids again.   
  
Stiles dropped Derek at his place and walked him to the door “I hope this, uh... helped? A bit?” He searches Derek’s face for confirmation, and Derek decides to send a small smile. It had helped, somewhat.   
  
“I’ll come over tomorrow with some pizzas and Mario Kart, if that’s fine?” Derek thought back to his quiet morning that day and nodded. Stiles smiled “Cool. Then, see ya” he says, hesitating a moment before sending a small wave of his hand Derek’s way. He walks back to his car and suddenly Derek feels kind of lonely again. He tries to tell himself not to be stupid. He’s gonna see Stiles tomorrow for fuck’s sake.

 

And he likes being alone.

  
  
He’ll see if that helps him get through the night this time.


	7. Seventh Day, It Can Go Your Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The incidents with the lights may or may not be real life stories of what happens when you leave me alone with a string of friggin' christmas lights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT NOTHING RHYMES WITH SEVEN?! I ALREADY USED HEAVEN I CANT USE IT AGAIN JESUS CHRIST. ASPLDFPLIETHLSIA

**_DAY 7:_ **

   
  
“We’re not going outside if you’re wearing that.” Derek says, eyeing that hideous sweater Stiles was wearing today.  
  
“Ok, first of all, rude.” he says, flattening his sweater with both hands “Second of all, we’re not going out today anyways, you grump. I brought pizza and video games, remember?” Stiles adds, pointing at the three boxes of pizza and the Mario Kart case on the coffee table in front of them.  
  
“Yeah, I’d be a little more grateful if it wasn’t 10 in the morning,” mutters Derek from his place in the couch.  
  
Stiles gasps “It’s never too early for pizza, man, how dare you,” he says, softly kicking Derek’s leg in retaliation for the offense.  
  
“Fine fine,” Derek says smirking as they settle back into their respective cushions and sigh. Derek turns his head to Stiles, eyeing him suspiciously “We’re not doing anything today, then? Nothing Christmas related? You’re not forcing me to dress up like Santa and dance in the snow?”  
  
Stiles snorts “I’ll file that last one for later, but uh- no. We’re just hanging out today,” and then the younger man mutters something under his breath that Derek doesn’t quite catch.  
  
“Sorry, what?” Derek says.  
  
Stiles sighs “And I was kinda hoping we could put up some of the decorations we bought earlier? Maybe? If you want to? Like, I understand if you don’t, but I think putting up some lights isn’t gonna hurt, you know? It looks pretty and it’s fun to plan and...” Stiles looked up at him, trying to slow down his chatter and actually see if he was annoying Derek.  
  
Derek didn’t mind the lights so much, and as long as he could get them off his house whenever, he felt like it would be a small compromise for Stiles’ efforts to make him feel better. The other decorations however: the tree, the ornaments, it’s all very reminiscent of home, his old home, the one that had burned...  
  
Derek shook his head and Stiles’ face fell, “It’s cool. I can- I can leave if you-“  
  
“No” says Derek, maybe a little too forcefully. “I- I mean... Some lights might be ok, just- maybe not inside? And not right now. Can we just-?” Derek was being awkward. He was always awkward but he was being extra awkward right now. Stiles’ small smile seemed to signal he’d noticed but he wasn’t gonna say anything.  
  
“Yeah, sure. You want me to kick your ass at Mario Kart then?” Stiles questions, reaching for controllers and setting the game up. Derek snorts, rolling his eyes as he takes one of the controllers, and after a moment's hesitation, he also takes a slice of Hawaiian. Pineapple for breakfast is at least acceptable. Kind of.  
  
“As if,” he mutters, starting up the game.  
  
“Oh-ho it is _on_ Sourwolf. I’m gonna kick your ass so hard you’re gonna feel it tomorrow!” Stiles says, a determined look on his eyes and half a pizza slice on his mouth.  
  
They played for hours on end, just yelling at each other, at the screen, and trying to sabotage each other by kicking every once in a while. The banter was comfortable and the closeness felt familiar and warm and Derek almost forgot all about Christmas and the stupid decorations.  
  
Stiles yells “Oh you fucker! You used a friggin’ blue shell?! That’s a low blow, Derek! LOW BLOW!”  
  
“Yeah well, that low blow’s got me in first so suck it,” Derek smirks, and Stiles tries sabotaging him by sneaking his socked foot up to his arms to unsteady his controller, but Derek swiftly pauses the game, and grabs Stiles’ foot, starting to tickle him mercilessly.  
  
Stiles can’t even breathe by the time Derek catches himself with his hands on Stiles’ sides. Derek’s grinning too, looking down at Stiles’ face pinched and heaving in between guffaws of laughter. “Stahp... please... ohmaigash... I can’t...” Stiles is still panting but Derek has withdrawn already, trying to ignore the sudden urge to get his hands back on Stiles’ chest.  
  
Stiles sits up still chuckling “You win that round, Hale,” he says. Derek shakes his head and stands up, stretching and then deciding to go to the kitchen for a beer.  
  
“I always win. You want a beer?” he replies and Stiles nods, sighing back into the cushions and closing his eyes. The pizza is almost completely gone and it’s already 3 in the afternoon now. It’s been... nice. Derek has a hard time admitting that to himself.  
  
When he walks back to the living room, Stiles is sat upside down while browsing something on his phone. As soon as he catches sight of Derek he starts “I think we should put up the lights already. I know you don’t want anything that’s too Christmas related and I’m not gonna push, exactly, but putting lights up is like the best worst tradition ever. It’s like the most festive necessary evil!” Stiles calls making grabby hands for the bottle. “Anyways, I’m thinking we can just do something a little different. I don’t know if you noticed but I bought a fuckton of lights that day...” he takes a swig, chokes, and quickly sits up to cough a bit. When he regained composure, Stiles continues “So I found this!” He says, and hands his phone to Derek.  
  
The video that plays is actually a short part from that How I Met Your Mother series Stiles has been obsessed about. It shows a house fully decorated with lights... lights that actually light up to the rhythm of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell. Derek’s gotta admit, that looks amazing.  
  
“And you’re telling me you know how to do this?” Derek asks suspiciously.  
  
“I’ve seen enough DIY videos on Pinterest to get the gist of it... I was thinking we go with that song you like so much from The Rolling Stones,” Stiles says, taking another swig from his beer.  
  
Derek is getting just a bit excited. Just a bit. Because this is quite awesome and he’s just human, dammit. “Doom and Gloom? You could do that?” Stiles shrugs and hums something that sounds like ‘I don’t know’. Derek looks at the video again thoughtfully. This actually looks amazing. And Derek is a sucker for classic rock. And it does seem like a fun little project.  
  
Derek sighs “Fine we can do that.”  
  
Stiles whoops and jumps up the couch “Oh fuck yeah! I’m gonna go get the lights. I’ll be The Brain, you’ll be Pinky, and we’re gonna take over your house Sourwolf!” And with that, Stiles walks to the closet where he knew Derek had stashed all the Christmas stuff out of sight.  
  
Stiles comes back with about ten huge boxes of lights all precariously balances on his hands “A little help?”  
  
After they set up on the ground and decide on a wall to put the lights on, Stiles gets to planning the lighting patterns while Derek gets started on untangling the lights.  
  
Needless to say, the whole experience is a rollercoaster of emotions.  
  
———  
  
“I’m telling you Derek! Just move it away!”  
  
“It’s _bolted_ to the wall, Stiles. I’m not gonna rip my bookshelf off the friggin’ wall just so you can put some lights instead. We’ll work around it,” Derek says, ever the calm one.  
  
“Fine. Fine! You’re the one that’s gonna have to live with an asymmetrically lighted wall anyways,” and grumbling, Stiles keeps planning the patterns, now working _around_ the bookshelf.  
  
———  
  
“Ummm... Derek?” Came a small voice from behind him and when he turns, he finds a pouty Stiles sitting on the floor, completely tangled in a mush of lights and string.  
  
Derek sighs “For fucks sake, Stiles.”  
  
“I’m sorry! It’s just this stupid lights! They wouldn’t cooperate...” Stiles mutters.  
  
Derek comes to his rescue, carefully untangling Stiles from the mess he got himself into. Some of the knots and loops he’s not really sure how they happened, but he eventually gets Stiles free and Stiles gives him a quick hug in thanks.  
  
Just like the rest of the small, somewhat lingering touches that happened during the untangling, Derek convinced himself that the hug was purely platonic. It means nothing.  
  
———  
  
“A little bit to the right...” Stiles days where he’s sitting on his knees on the ground, one eye shut and the other wide open, with both his hands making somewhat of a frame with the index and thumb, trying to picture the arrangement he’d decided on for the lights.  
  
Derek was not amused, he moved a bit to the right and Stiles quickly corrects “No no no no, your _other_ right.”  
  
Derek rolls his eyes, moving the string he’s holding a bit to the left now “I don’t know about you, but I only have _one_ right Stiles.”  
  
Stiles huffs “Don’t question my genius.”  
  
Derek mutters “Wouldn’t dream of it.”  
  
“I heard that! Don’t get sassy with me, Hale, we got work to do,” Stiles says, and promptly sticks his tongue out. How mature.  
  
Of course, Derek doesn’t stick his tongue out in retaliation. Unlike Stiles, he’s an actual adult. But he does pick up one of the pieces of paper strewn around on the ground and throws it at Stiles’ face.  
  
Stiles gasps when it hits him and glares at Derek “Jerk.”  
  
Derek snorts “Can I leave the lights here then?”  
  
“Yeah I think that’s fine,” Stiles says, his focus back on the task at hand.  
  
Stiles keeps on giving Derek directions on how and where to hang the lights, and Derek complies. The look of focus on Stiles’ face is somewhat adorable. But Derek tried not to dwell on that specific thought. It doesn’t mean anything.  
  
———  
  
Derek has fallen asleep somewhere between having Chinese for dinner and Stiles getting tangled in yet another string of lights, trying to place them perfectly on the wall.  
  
He wakes up to an electric guitar playing some familiar tune. He sits up as he notices the lights are turned off, but his eyes land on the lights on his wall, lighting up to the rhythm.  
  
‘I had a dream last night, that I was piloting a plane’ come the lyrics of the song and Derek’s smile grows wide as he looks at the lights perfectly shimmering and changing as the song goes on.  
  
He turns around and finds Stiles, slumped on the couch, a satisfied grin on his tired face. “We did it,” he says with exhausted cheer.  
  
“What time is it?” Derek asks confused.  
  
“Like midnight? I think?” Stiles supplies yawning as if on cue.  
  
Derek’s eyes turn back to the play of colors in front of him as the song goes into the chorus. “This is....”  
  
“I know, right? Awesome,” Stiles says, his eyes almost slipping shut and Derek feels a surge of affection course through him. Stiles stayed up after Derek took a nap and finished this thing. It was all kinds of amazing and touching. Derek smiles looking at how the lights illuminated Stiles’ face.  
  
“Yeah...” he whispers. Stiles turns to him and smiles. They stay there, staring at each other as the song comes to an end. When it finally goes quiet again, Stiles stands up to get everything unplugged.  
  
  
“I should probably get going,” he says rubbing the back of his neck and stretching.  
  
“You could stay over... on the couch” Derek supplies, shrugging as if it’s not a big deal. And it’s not. At all. Not a big deal. Nope.  
  
Stiles sighs relieved “Oh man, thanks. I really don’t wanna drive to my apartment right now,” and with that, he shoves Derek off the couch, and flops in it, already half asleep as soon as his head hits a pillow.  
  
“I’m gonna get you some... stuff,” Derek says, this weird feeling coming over him as he watches Stiles comfortably nuzzling the pillow under his head.  
  
He gets some blankets and a fresh change of clothes for tomorrow, trying not to think about the fact that he’s really enjoying giving his clothes for Stiles to wear. It’s stupid.  
  
He goes back into the living room to find Stiles already asleep, so he just puts a couple of blankets on top of him and his hand brushes through Stiles’ hair softly without a thought. He clears his throat and goes back to his room quickly, shutting the door behind him. His back rests against his door as he closed his eyes and sighs. He’s being weird. Too weird. Stiles is just doing something for him as a friend and Derek’s getting confused. It’s just- he’s just being silly that’s all.

  
  
It’s ok. He’s gonna be normal tomorrow. It’s all gonna be fine.  
  
He doesn’t even think about what Stiles has planned for tomorrow as he climbs into his bed. _It’s gonna be fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to the How I Met Your Mother video I mention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs6BhyiogwY


	8. Day Six, Snow Lovin' and Picnics! (sort of)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SNOW APPRECIATION CHAPTER THANK YOU YOU'RE WELCOME

_**DAY 6:** _

  
  
“Derek, man, wake up! Wake up! I’m not above dropping a glass of water on ya, wake the fuck uuuuup!”    
  
Derek awakes to Stiles shaking his shoulders and poking his tummy. He grunts at first, thrown off and grumpy. “Go away” he mutters, pulling the sheets up above his head.    
  
“Derek wake the fuck up or I swear to god I’m gonna climb up and jump on you, don’t test me!” Stiles says, his chirpiness being what annoys Derek the most at this time of morning.    
  
“What time’s it?” He slurs from beneath his sheets.    
  
“I don’t know, like, seven? That’s not the point Der, you need to come see this!” Derek groans and peeks an eye out, trying his best to glare at Stiles. But the big smile and the fondness he sees there wake him up more than anything with that weird feeling in his chest again.    
  
“I hate you,” Derek mutters as he sits up, rubbing his eyes.    
  
Stiles takes one of his hands and literally drags him  to the window on the living room. Derek’s still only half awake so he doesn’t really process the hand holding, until they’re standing in front of the window and Derek gasps. It’s snowing.    
  
“It’s snowing!” Stiles declares gleefully. And Derek smiles despite himself, looking at the soft blanket of pure white that’s covered literally everything outside. It’s quite a few inches, and Derek kind of wonders when exactly did it start snowing and how the hell did he not notice.    
  
He turns to Stiles and smiles with an awestruck expression, and it’s in that moment he realizes he’s still holding Stiles’ hand. He mumbles an apology but Stiles either doesn’t hear it or doesn’t react.    
  
Stiles jumps back to the couch to grab his ugly sweater and a coat, “Change of plans, Sourwolf. Today’s snow day!”    
  
And with that, Stiles runs out to the snow, giggling giddily and jumping around, flailing at the small snowflakes that cover his face and it’s so ridiculous and adorable that Derek actually just stands at the window watching. A small smile creeps on his face “Come out here you dumbass! It’s awesome!”   
  
Derek doesn’t think, he just gets some boots and half puts on a coat and throws himself into the nearest pitch of snow. Stiles laughs impressed and excited “Aren’t you getting wet?” Stiles asks chuckling.    
  
“I think...” he starts reaching with an arm asking Stiles to help him up. But at the last second he pulls Stiles and throws tee young man beside him. “Are _you_ getting wet?” He smiles.   
  
Stiles flips him off but the grin on his face hasn’t faded. “This is the best day, Der. I’d thought we could go get Christmas gifts for your family, but dammit I really wanna go ice skating!”    
  
Derek snorts “Like you could ice skate.”    
  
Stiles huffs in offense and turns to him, his head pillowed in a small puddle now “I could if I wanted to! I’d like to see you try, Mr. I’m-too-good-for-fun.”    
  
Derek rolls his eyes “I can’t ice skate. That still doesn’t mean I’m not better than you.”    
  
Stiles snorts “Well, as much as I’d love to prove you wrong, I don’t think there’s anywhere we could actually go ice skating right now.”    
  
Derek thinks, looking at the clouds on top of him “There’s a snowboarding place nearby,” he shrugs, suddenly feeling the cold biting at his back and neck. He shivers, still not ready to stand up.    
  
Stiles gets up on his elbows “What the hell are we waiting for, then!” And with that, he swiftly stands up and gets inside, “Cmon Sourwolf! The snow isn’t gonna board itself!”    
  
Derek chuckles quietly at the bad pun, sores one last look at the gloomy but beautiful sky, a good warm feeling that contrasts beautifully with the rest of the day settles inside. He smiles up at the fluffy clouds above, and gets up, going inside too. Snowboarding is not Christmas related anyways, and he’d been wanting to go anyways.    
  
———   
  
They arrived to the snowboarding place chuckling and laughing, shoving each other some as they teased and joked. He’d craved this. He hadn’t quite realized but he’d been kind of wanting this kind of easy, comfortable and safe interaction. It felt like he’d been starving for unadulterated, worry-free, easygoing companionship. No troubles attached. Just warm feelings and no baggage. He wasn’t even waiting for the other shoe to drop today. It finally felt like vacation time for his brain.   
  
“Holy shit,” Stiles said, his eyes wide as he stared at the cabin that was like the base for the snowboarding place. Derek turned to look and found the place literally swarming with people. It was insane, there was a line for god knows what that went out the door.    
  
Derek faltered “How much do you really wanna go snowboarding?”    
  
Stiles huffed “As much as you wanna stand in that line,” he said, turning on his heel and back to his car. Derek was still feeling good about today, and he knew about a place that was actually quite beautiful and safe from other people, where they could still have fun and maybe have some beers and enjoy the snow.    
  
Derek turned “I know where we can go, if you’re up for it.”    
  
Stiles turned with a smile “As long as it’s not swarming with people, I’m game.”   
  
———    
  
The drive was a bit long, the road was a bit tricky, but the Jeep and Stiles could manage it well enough. “I think it’s up this way...”    
  
“You think?!” Stiles squawks.    
  
Derek rolls his eyes “I’m 98% sure, ok?” He says, motioning for Stiles to make the turn.    
  
“Famous last words,” Stiles mutters, and Derek swallows the urge to shove him just because that could actually kill them in this weather.    
  
“Stop here,” Derek says, recognizing the tree line and the clearing up ahead. He knew this woods like the back of his hand. “Did you bring the food?”    
  
Stiles turns to him with a deadpan expression “No, Derek. I didn’t do the _one_ thing you asked me to do because I just wanted to starve in the middle of the woods.”    
  
“Smartass,” and he gets out of the car smirking.    
  
He gets the picnic basket that Stiles _did_ pack and they walk about ten minutes until they get to what Derek thought of as his spot. As soon as they step into it, he hears a gasp behind him.    
  
It’s valid. The view is truly breathtaking. It’s not exactly a cliff, but it’s high enough that part of the town nearby is visible, the horizon of pre white clashing with rooftops and lights. The breeze is bearable, even if the weather is still freezing. Good thing they were both well layered. The trees around just added a sense of privacy and coziness, there was a small table, probably because at some point this used to be some kind of park, but now it was just abandoned. Derek throws a smile behind him and walks towards the table to place the basket.    
  
He turns to find Stiles just quietly staring at the skyline. “Jesus,” he breathes. Derek gets the feeling.    
  
Not missing a beat, Derek sees the rather thick layer of snow under his feet and leans to take some, pressing it with one hand. Stiles is still entranced by the view when he throws it, and it goes straight to Stiles’ neck, and down his shirt. Eliciting a rather loud and high-pitched squeal.    
  
“You motherfluffer, what the heck!” Stiles turns around, indignant. “Did you just throw a snowball at me?” Stiles asks.    
  
Derek just chuckles, and takes the other snowball, the one hiding behind his back, and throws it at Stiles’ chest. Smiling wide.    
  
Stiles glares “Oh, very mature, you know I could get really sick from- Hey!”    
  
Another snowball hits Stiles’ tummy.    
  
“How dare- You’re attacking an unarmed man?! Shame! Dishonor to you! Dishonor to your cow! Dis-“ another snowball hits Stiles’ shoulder.    
  
“Oh you’re soooo dead,” and with that, an epic snowball battle start. One that has them making actual forts on opposite sides of the little hill and yelling and trash-talking.    
  
“Your fort seems weak there, Sourwolf!” Stiles yells from the direction of his fort. Derek is sat behind his makeshift fort, that is actually just a mound of snow that is meant to protect him from Stiles’ snowballs.    
  
“Mind your own fort Stilinski!” Derek tells back, turning around to throw some snowballs to Stiles’ fort, hopefully helping to cave it.    
  
When Stiles is quiet for too long, Derek peeks over his snow wall “Stiles? Did I leave you speechless or something?” After a beat he adds “Did you lick an icicle?”    
  
Derek doesn’t trust the silence so he sends some more snowballs Stiles’ way. As soon as he reaches for his last snowball, a cold gloves hand drops a whole snowball down his shirt. Derek shrieks and falls over, and Stiles is laughing smugly over him. “That’ll teach you not to mess with Stiles the Snow Master.”    
  
Derek tries half heartedly to trip Stiles but he fails. The cold is seeping through his clothes but he’s still laughing. “Cheater,” Derek huffs and stands up. “Last one to the basket doesn’t get cookies,” he says and sprints to the table.    
  
He does end up giving Stiles some cookies, and it has nothing to do with Stiles’ puppy eyes. Nothing.    
  
As the day winds up, Derek and Stiles retreat back to Derek’s place. When Stiles is about to leave he turns “Best snow day, like, ever”, he smiles.    
  
Derek lets out a doubtful noise “I’ve had better,” he says, but the smirk on his face betrays his words. Stiles slaps him in the arm “We’re still on for going to get some Christmas presents tomorrow?”    
  
Derek’s face sobers a bit, groaning as he closes his eyes. His family still celebrates Christmas, Derek’s hatred not shared by them. Even if it should. And although Derek doesn’t participate in said celebrations, he still gets them presents, because they’re family. That doesn’t mean Derek doesn’t really like to do so. “Oh, c’mon Der! I still have some Christmas shopping to do. Don’t make me go alone.”    
  
Derek sighs “Fine, yeah. I have to get them something, anyways,” he says resigned.    
  
Stiles snorts “That’s the spirit.” The young man opens the door to let himself out, and calls over his shoulder “See ya tomorrow Sourwolf!”    



	9. Day Five, Barely Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas Shopping is the literal worst. Im sorry. I just H A T E IT.   
> Anywhoozles....

_**DAY 5:** _   


  
“Ah fuck” is the first thing Derek says as they enter the mall the next day. It had been a good night and today when Stiles had showed up, Derek had been considerably less grumpy than the rest of the days. But as soon as he saw the literal millions of people coming and going on the mall, his mood soured considerably. “Let’s go back, we can order something from Amazon,” he turns on his heels and starts walking back to the parking lot when Stiles stops him with a hand on his chest.    
  
“They won’t arrive in time, Der. We gotta do this. If I’m going down you’re coming with me,” he says, taking Derek by the scarf wrapped around his neck and dragging him to the first big store they find.    
  
“We need a plan,” says Stiles, idly walking and watching the many trinkets on the shelves in the store.    
  
Derek sighs “Leave as soon as possible, how’s that sound?”    
  
“I know what I’m buying my dad and Scotty and Allison, and I’m buying Laura.... something. You’re like the Grinch and want nothing so that’s one less problem, but I wanna buy something for your family... they’ve been awesome with me,” said Stiles.    
  
It was true though. Since Derek had been partnered with Stiles and they started getting along, his family had kind of adopted Stiles as their honorary child. He was positive Stiles was his mom’s favorite out of all of them, even if she’d never say it out loud. But Derek was glad. No friends he’d ever had ever went along so well with his family. They were either spooked by Cora or Laura, overwhelmed by his mom, or scared of his dad. Stiles took it all in stride though, and he fit right in.    
  
“You can get them a new coffee machine... Cora broke theirs like a week ago,” Derek supplies, eyeing some weird ass stuffed animals with big eyes that seemed to follow him. He glares back.    
  
“Awesome. What can I get Laura?” Stiles asks, looking at some supposedly occult kind of jewelry. It was all dark crystals with symbols that seemed more like Chinese lettering than actual spellwork or warding.    
  
“Call her. I wanna know what to get her too,” Derek says. His sister had always been the kind of woman that would take a good gift above a good surprise, so she was fine with them calling to know what she wanted for Christmas.    
  
Stiles nods and starts dialing. The phone rings twice before she picks up “Stiles, ‘sup”    
  
“Hey Laur, you’re on speaker, we wanna know what to get you for Christmas,” Stiles talks to the phone distractedly, motioning at a beanie that has the word ‘UGH’ engraved, and he then points to Derek. Derek shakes his head. Stiles scowls.    
  
“We?” Asks Laura.    
  
“Yeah, me and Derek” Stiles replies, showing Derek the beanie is only 4$. Derek shakes his head again and this time smacks Stiles upside the head.    
  
“You two are Christmas shopping together?” A beat and then “Cute.”    
  
Derek does not blush. He doesn’t. “Just tell us what you want so we can get outta here.”    
  
Laura snorts “I want a scarf and a purse. Try getting them both in either navy blue or silver. Send me a picture of what you find and I’ll let you know if I like it.”    
  
Derek sighs “Great. See ya later sis,” he says and moves to hang up on her when she yells    
  
“Wait! You guys are actually the people I wanted to talk to today!” She piped up. Derek and Stiles share a suspicious look.    
  
“Why?” Stiles asks warily.    
  
“Erica is about to have her baby so I gave her some time off, and I got some replacements, but they won’t be able to work the day before Christmas Eve... so I need two handsome cops to help out a friend?” Laura adds in an overly sweet voice.    
  
Derek squints at the phone “Why the day before Christmas Eve?”   
  
Laura sighs “That’s the last day I work until January 2nd. My last day’s always the worst, but they live in Canada or something and that’s when they leave for the holidays. I swear I’ll pay you guys if you want, but please? I’m desperate.”    
  
Stiles smiles sympathetically at the phone “We’ll do it,” he looks at Derek and shrugs “We didn’t have anything planned for that day. But I want free coffee for a month!” Stiles adds excitedly.    
  
“You already get free coffee dumbass” she says fondly. Derek rolls his eyes.    
  
“Just get him a bag of your pretzels and he’ll be your slave. I’ll help clean up after him. Don’t worry Laur, we got you,” Derek says. He’s always happy to help in the shop. The work is mechanic and cathartic in a weird way. It never fails to clear his head.    
  
Laura snorts “Thanks! Ok I gotta go! Remember, grey is _not_ silver. If you get me a grey scarf I’ll choke both of you with it. Love ya, bye,” and with that, his sister hangs up the phone.    
  
Stiles looks up a bit scared “You know the difference between silver and grey?” Derek just rolls his eyes and walks out of the store they’re in, looking for the one Laura loves to buy from. Stiles is right behind him “If she chokes us, I’ll make sure you die first,” he mumbles punching Derek lightly on the shoulder. Derek just chuckles.    
  
———   
  
Three hours, two coffee breaks, seven shopping bags, and a lunch break later, they’re both sprawled in two of those massage chairs, sighing heavily. “We got everything, right?”   
  
Derek goes through it in his mind “We have the scarf and purse for Laura, some baby stuff for Erica and Boyd, you got my family the coffee machine, I got Cora the book she wanted, and I ended up buying that necklace you showed me to my mom and the fishing gear we saw for my dad...” Derek takes a breath. “I guess I’m just missing you” he turns his face to Stiles “You want anything?”    
  
Stiles snorts “You wanna do my paperwork for a month when we get back?”    
  
Derek huffs “No”    
  
Stiles sighs heavily “Then nope,” he says, getting more comfortable on the chair. “I’m missing some people... I got my dad the new gun I talked to you about... I got Scotty those vinyls he asked me for, and I got Allison a new bow... you sure you don’t want anything?”   
  
Derek shakes his head “Nope.”Stiles sighs and sits up.    
  
“Then I guess that’s it, man. We got ‘em all” he says, stretching a bit as he stands up. “Let’s get the hell out of here man, I think my ears are gonna bleed if I hear jingle bells one more time.”    
  
Derek snorts and they start walking out, Stiles stopping in front of the Santa posing in front of the tree with children all around him. “You sure you don’t wanna tell Santa what you want for Christmas Der-Bear?” Stiles asks teasingly.    
  
“You’re right. Maybe I could ask for another partner,” he deadpans, not even turning to look at Santa or the big ass tree behind them.    
  
“Oh ha ha,” Stiles says, hip checking him because his hands are full of bags. “You’re lucky I can’t smack you right now.”    
  
“I’ll count my blessings” Derek replied flatly.    
  
———   
  
They get to Derek’s house and collapse. Derek on the floor and Stiles on the couch. “How is it _night_ already?! Where’d the sun go?” Stiles moans, an arm thrown over his face.    
  
Derek sighs, the floor is starting to feel really comfortable right now. If he just closes his eyes, maybe-    
  
“You can’t fall asleep on the floor man. It’s bad for the back,” Stiles pipes up.    
  
“ _Shhhhh_ , lemme try,” replies Derek, already falling back into that tired trance of half-asleep-ness.    
  
Stiles sits up “Der, I’m serious. You’re gonna get a cold or something,” he insists, throwing a pillow at Derek’s face. “I’m gonna get going, see ya tomorrow,” Stiles stretches upright, and nudges Derek with his feed in goodbye. Derek grunts something that sounds like ‘bye Stiles’. 

  
  
Malls are _the worst._   


  
His bed though, his bed is so much more comfortable than the floor. Stiles was right.    



	10. Day Four, I Want S'mores

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five words: Lazy night by the fire.

_**DAY 4:** _

  
  
**> > Come over**   
  
The text makes his phone ping alive at five in the afternoon. The day had been spent lazily watching Documentaries on Netflix and texting with Stiles about how they were never ever going to a Mall again. Amongst other things. Stiles had confessed he really didn’t have anything planned for today, so Derek took it as a break from going out and talking out loud. Currently, he was sprawled upside down on his couch, watching penguins win yet another round on some documentary called 72 Cutest Animals.    
  
**< < Why?**   
  
He types back and waits. He didn’t really feel like getting up, and it was nearly dark out again. Time sure flew when you were watching Netflix.    
  
**> > I have food. And this:**   
  
Attached is a photo of a fire that Stiles had probably just started on his grill. Then came another text   
  
**> > If you bring chocolates we can make s’mores! And I got steak!!! :0**   
  
Derek snorted. The idea of a quiet fireplace and steak dinner sounded pretty awesome actually. And Stiles being there was a bonus. A very compelling bonus.    
  
**< < You got beers? **  
  
>> Oooh, get that too! And get the big Hershey’s bars!! I love those :p  
  
<< I didn’t say I was coming.   
  
**> > Hurry up or Imma eat all the steak!  **     
  
Derek sighed and turned off the TV. He got half dressed and looked for his wallet. Oh, what he did for steak.    
  
———   
  
“Hershey’s?” Is the first thing Stiles says when Derek crosses the door. Derek hands him the bag with the massive chocolate bars and grins at Stiles’ big ass smile.    
  
He turns to the room at large and notices there’s no decorations put up yet. “For a guy who made me spend a day putting Christmas lights on my place, you have a very naked house. I was expecting like at least seven trees,” Derek says teasingly, walking to the back of the house, where the small grill was lit up safely outside of the house.   
  
“I know... but I heard a while back that Dad isn’t gonna make it here for Christmas this year,” Stiles shrugs, checking in the small fire he has burning, trying to keep it alive in the cold.    
  
Derek’s face turns worried “Something happened?”    
  
“Love happened,” Stiles turns, a genuine grin on his face “My dad finally got his head out of his ass and asked out Melissa, Scotty’s mom, you know her...”   
  
“The nurse” Derek asks, remembering from when he went to visit Stiles’ Dad after they found out they both coincidentally lived in Beacon Hills.    
  
“Yeah! Anyways, he asked her out a couple of months back, and they went on a little trip to god knows where in Mexico. I don’t even wanna think what they were doing, I’m just imagining them both watching TV and solving crossword puzzles in pjs...” Stiles shakes his head a bit “But their flight back got delayed because of a storm or something, so he won’t get here ‘til New Years.”    
  
Derek could see the slump on Stiles’ shoulders. “I’m sorry about that.”    
  
Stiles shrugs “It’s not the first Christmas I spend alone, and I’m gonna see him like two days later anyways... besides...” he adds sneaking a glance at Derek “I’ve been having a good time so far,” he says smiling.    
  
Derek smiles back.    
  
———   
  
“Good steak huh?” Stiles says, slumped in his chair.    
  
“I don’t even remember what the steak tasted like. I ate too much s’mores” Derek says, and they both chuckle.    
  
They’re both inside now. Fire thoroughly watered and smothered. It’s about 10 pm now. Stiles is a little tipsy and giggling about everything and Derek is just trying to gather enough energy to actually stand up and leave.    
  
“I gotta go,” Derek groans as he gets up, or tries to, but he flops back on the couch.    
  
Stiles snorts and giggles, Derek just sending him his best glare in his current state. “And you should go to sleep. You’re tipsy.”    
  
Stiles huffs “I’m not tipsy! You’re tipsy!”    
  
Derek rolls his eyes “Right. Promise me you won’t trip and die when you go up to your room. It’s too much paperwork,” he says as he attempts to stand up, this time succeeding.    
  
Stiles snorts “Sure,” he murmurs, but he gets up, presumably to walk Derek to the door.    
  
Derek stops at the door to get his coat on, but Stiles surprises him with a hug. Derek’s heart starts hammering against his chest and a heat comes over his face up to the tips of his ears “Stiles?”    
  
“Thanks,” Stiles murmurs into Derek’s chest. Derek’s confused, but before he can ask, Stiles continues “For going along with it. Humoring me... just... thanks,” he says, giving Derek one last squeeze before he steps back, smiling to Derek “Drive safe Sourwolf”.    
  
Opening the door, Derek walks out, murmuring “G’night Stiles.”   
  
The whole drive back his heart flutters when he thinks about that hug. Stiles is usually quite tactile. But the line had always been tacitly drawn at hugs or that kind of close contact. Not without purpose. Not unless they _had_ to. But Stiles had just... hugged him. And Derek- Derek hadn’t even hugged back. He’d just stood there like a moron-    
  
But it doesn’t matter. It was just a hug. Friends hug all the time. Stiles hugs Laura and Erica and that rookie Isaac on their precinct... it doesn’t mean anything.    
  
The disappointment cuts deep this time. And Derek finds, to his surprise, that he kind of wanted it to mean something. He was just- confused?    
  
Yeah...   
  
_Confused_.    
  



	11. Day Three, Sing For Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping gifts is the true NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS..... just sayin'

_**DAY 3:** _

  
  
That stupid song. That stupid Swish Swish song was sounding somewhere. Derek growled and hid his head under his pillow. He sound stopped and he sighed happily. Then it sounded again and Derek felt like biting someone.    
  
He sticks his head up, his eyes still half closed, trying to figure out where the sound is coming from to fucking shoot it with his gun. It’s his phone. Stiles’ name flashes across the screen and Derek just groans internally, because how the fuck does he keep guessing the password?!    
  
“What?!” He answers flopping back on his bed.    
  
“Open the door! You locked it! I’m freezing, Der, for the love of Zeus, drag your ass out here,” Stiles’ voice comes strained and Derek can hear his teeth chattering.    
  
He growls into the phone but gets up, going to open the door and finding a ball of yarn and ugly Christmas clothing shivering on his door, holding some bags on his hands.    
  
“Morning!” Stiles says cheerily as he walks inside, Derek just glares his way and beelines to the coffee machine.    
  
Stiles laughs softly “When I met you I would’ve sworn you were a morning person- guess I was wrong,” he smirks.    
  
Derek glares harder “When I met you I would’ve sworn you weren’t a jackass... guess I was wrong,” he bites back.   
  
Stiles barks a laugh “Cute. But that’s no way to treat the person that came to save your ass.”    
  
Derek just raises an eyebrow unimpressed. Stiles rolls his eyes, “Ok smartass, are you tellin’ me you already wrapped your presents?”    
  
Derek’s eyes widened. He wrapped his presents every year because he knew his family appreciated the sentiment. But it was a chore he liked to put off as much as possible, and he usually ended up forgetting about it until Stiles asked him if he’d done it already.    
  
“I thought so” says Stiles, moving everything from the kitchen counter “Go get a pair of scissors, Sourwolf. We gotta get working ‘cause we gotta send these today.”   
  
Stiles usually wrapped all his presents, shoved them in a bigger box along with a ton of tinsel for protection, and sent that one big box to his Dad’s place, where the gifts were picked up by Scotty and Lydia and a couple of Stiles’ other friends.    
  
Derek’s presents usually hitched a ride with Stiles’, and they split the cost of shipping it away. “My dad got something for Melissa on my behalf and I gotta send that cash too, you gotta remind me when we’re done,” Stiles mutters, but it doesn’t seem like he’s talking to Derek anymore. Already focused on how he’s gonna wrap all of this.    
  
They both get into it pretty quickly. Paper flying here and there, both making fun of each other’s poor attempts at wrapping presents “That shit’s awful!” Stiles laughs.    
  
“It’s the thought that counts!” Says Derek, frowning.    
  
“Yeah well, what the hell were you thinking when you did _that_?!” Stiles laughs louder and so Derek shoves a ball of paper in his mouth.    
  
Apart from their banter and sass, they’re finishing up pretty quickly, almost done when Stiles gets the brilliant idea of putting on some music.    
  
The first thing that comes through Derek’s speakers is some Christmasy tune, and Derek turns to glare at Stiles “No,” he says seriously.    
  
Stiles sighs “Fine, Fine,” And he turns to another playlist. Ramble on starts coming through and Derek smiles, giving a small nod. He goes back to trying to wrap the friggin’ scarf which is impossible, when the volume is turned up.    
  
Derek turns to Stiles in question and sees the young man, up on the couch and singing along to the lyrics while flailing wildly and shaking his head through the rhythm.    
  
“What the hell are you doing?” Derek half yells over the music.    
  
Stiles smiles wide “Singing! Dancing! Having fun! You should try it sometime,” he says laughing. His focus going back to the lyrics as he mouths the words and closes his eyes, trying to give a heartfelt performance that actually looks just ridiculous. But Derek can’t look away, and he finds himself chuckling and nodding along, his last gift forgotten at his feet, unwrapped, as he leans back to watch Stiles’ clumsy flailing and over exaggerated faces.    
  
One song after the other, Stiles jumped through the living room, dancing and singing along, and Derek was amused, having wrapped Laura’s gift finally and making some popcorn. He’d been thinking of asking Stiles to stay over and watch a movie but this is way more entertaining.    
  
That is, up until Stiles jumps off the couch and takes Derek by the hand, using a spoon he got from god knows where as a microphone as the lyrics from ‘Breaking Free’ from Queen start. Derek snorts and shakes his head. No way he’s gonna do this. He’s not the type to dance and sing like a crazy person.    
  
Stiles, however, twirls Derek around to the living room and starts singing the song looking directly into Derek’s eyes.    
  
**_‘I’m falling in love... I’m falling in love for the first time... and this time I know it’s for real... I’m falling in love...’_ **   
  
Derek’s cheeks heat and his eyes go wide as his heart stumbles over itself to try and beat properly. But then Stiles is sprinting and sliding on his knees on the ground, his eyes closed as he sings to the ceiling    
  
_**‘God knows! God knows I’m falling in love’** _   
  
A chuckle startles out of his chest. Stiles keeps singing the song and jumping around, no longer looking at Derek the way that made the latter breath a little harder. But it seems fun and free and... and nice. Like something he could actually do.   
  
Derek walks to Stiles’ phone and changes the song. Now Highway to Hell playing through the house, and taking the spoon del Stiles’ fingers, he starts    
  
_**‘Livin’ easy... livin’ free.... season ticket on a one way ride’** _   
  
Stiles whoops and goes to get another spoon and they spend their afternoon just singing along and dancing like crazy people to classic rock music. It was one of the most memorable afternoons Derek’s ever had. By the time they finished they were hungry. Derek had apparently woken up at noon, and it was 4 pm already, so they ordered some Thai food to be their lunch/dinner.    
  
They settled to watch Marvel and discuss the plot while they ate. Soon enough it was 8 pm, and Laura was calling to remind them to sleep early because they had to be at the shop at five am tomorrow to help. Derek sighed but agreed. Stiles practically claimed the couch, saying he didn’t wanna have to drive from _his_ place to the shop, which was considerably closer to Derek’s place, so Derek just threw him some blankets and called it a day.    
  
———    
  
His heart skipped when Stiles said goodnight. He was seriously starting to go crazy. What was Stiles _feeding_ to him?!    



	12. Day Two, I'm Scared and I Want You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ANGST IS AFOOT  
> BE WARNED

_**DAY 2:** _

  
  
Early mornings were the worst. But somehow, seeing Stiles growling and grunting with him instead of being cheerily happy like always have Derek some deep satisfaction.    
  
They arrived at Laura’s shop at five like promised. Their disheveled state and bed head making Laura chuckle softly and offer them both a cup before putting them to work. Laura prided herself in that she baked all the things she sold at her store. But now it just meant Derek and Stiles were in charge of actually baking everything for today in record time while trying to help in the register and serving coffee. There were three of them, but like Laura had said, people came in by the dozen.    
  
Stiles and Derek, however, fell into a nice rhythm in the kitchen. They both went out to help Laura if need be, but otherwise they worked well together. Like they’d always shared a kitchen, like they did this every day. Derek tried to not dwell on it too much.    
  
They bantered and joked as they baked, and even working the register, they both teased from afar, a couple of times that even included Stiles making some loud lewd remarks. Laura smacked him over the head hard enough the second time that he didn’t do it again. Still it was easy and soothing, the work, the mechanics of it, the repeating of motions. It was... almost cleansing. Derek could get lost in that kind of work for days.    
  
They couldn’t all tame their lunches at the same time, so Laura went first, and then went Stiles, leaving Derek and his sister alone for about twenty minutes.    
  
“You two seem happy” Laura comments, too nonchalantly to be anything but.    
  
“I guess?” Derek replies a bit defensively. He had the feeling he didn’t wanna hear what Laura wanted to say.    
  
“I’m just sayin’. It’s nice to see you happy, even if Stiles seems to be the only one who can get a smile out of you lately,” Laura says, wiping down the counter.    
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks, but a customer interrupts their conversation. When Laura gets back he starts with “Stop saying shit like that.”    
  
“Like what?” Laura asks, her brows furrowed.    
  
“Like... like, insinuating stuff. It’s not like that,” Derek shakes his head as he says it, bending down to check the cookies in the oven.    
  
“Derek, you both just spent almost a week and a half together, you’re joking and sassing like there’s no tomorrow... the glances, the smiles you throw at each other, that weird thing you both do when you stare at each other...” Laura is getting nearer and nearer, and Derek can’t help but feel like he’s being scolded. “You’re telling me that’s not what lovey-dovey couples do? Please, Der, I wasn’t born today, but I wasn’t born yesterday either.”    
  
She leaves Derek to his own thoughts in the kitchen while she mans the register.    
  
It’s a weird feeling that takes over. A bitter smell mixed with a clenched chest that almost doesn’t let him breathe. His hands clench in fists and flashbacks of _that_ night start playing behind his eyelids.    
  
He still remembers what he felt for Kate. He feels differently for Stiles in some ways. But it’s all too similar to be anything but a bad omen. Derek isn’t supposed to fall in love, he’s not supposed to celebrate Christmas. Because of him his family almost died, because he’s too much of an idiot to get to fall in love. Because Stiles isn’t- Stiles isn’t supposed to make him feel like this.    
  
But the young man is this big question mark somewhere in Derek’s brain, one that Derek is addicted to prodding and investigating, getting excited whenever he gets to find out something new.    
  
He wasn’t supposed to fall in love with Stiles.    
  
This all had to stop.    
  
As soon as Stiles walked in from his break, Derek ran out. He needed to breathe.    
  
———   
  
Laura decided to close up shop at 7, letting Derek and Stiles free at 8. Stiles was already talking about dinner plans and maybe going to see the town and some of the lights there, as they walked through Derek’s door.    
  
Derek had enough. He slammed the keys on the counter and sighed “No, Stiles.”    
  
Stiles looks at him weirdly “Oh, c’mon Sourwolf! If you don’t wanna go out we could order some pizza and maybe put the Christmas tree I never took home in here and-“    
  
Derek runs a hand through his hair frustrated “You don’t understand, Stiles. I mean stop. Stop everything, just... stop.”    
  
His voice is harsh and exasperated and he can see a hint of hurt on Stiles’ eyes, but Stiles still asks “What’s wrong?”    
  
Derek doesn’t know where to fucking begin. “You wanna know why I hate Christmas?!” Without waiting for an answer, he continues, his voice strained and desperate “I thought I was in love with a girl... Kate Argent. I thought she was the fucking love of my life. We’d only been dating for six months but I was sure she was perfect, so I proposed on Christmas Eve. Boy, was I a fucking idiot,” he spits. Stiles’ face turns to deep worry “She said yes, you know? She was my fucking fiancé. Up until she decided to light up my house the night after Christmas, with my family inside. If I hadn’t woken up and seen her... my mom almost didn’t make it,” he says, slumping over the counter and running both his hands through his hair, the shame and guilt and raggedness from that night all coming back “I _saw_ her, Stiles. I asked her to stop. She almost killed my family because she wanted to get revenge on my parents and their fucking firm and- And I was too much of a fucking idiot to do anything about it until it was too fucking late.”    
  
Stiles moves a bit towards him, opening his mouth to say something but Derek steps back, eyes cast down “My mom still limps. Her whole leg is burned badly because she got stuck after saving Cora... and it was my fault.”   
  
“Derek-“ starts Stiles, but Derek doesn’t want to hear it.    
  
“No. No amount of fucking lights or going shopping is gonna make me fucking forget that I could’ve gotten my family killed, Stiles,” he says, his eyes closing at the harshness of his tone. He’s doing it. He’s pushing Stiles away. It’s for the best. It shouldn’t hurt.    
  
“Derek, that wasn’t-“ Stiles tries to whisper but Derek cuts him off.    
  
“It was! It was my fault,” he says loudly. “But that’s not the point. The point is, you can stop now. I’m not playing along anymore. We’re just  _colleagues_ and that’s it, I don’t need you getting involved on my shit. So whatever you wanted to do tomorrow, just don’t. I’m done being your pity project for the holidays. Just _fuck off_ ,”. Derek spits the words with venom, and finally, he just stomps to his room and slams the door shut.    
  
When he slumps against it he hears the main door open and close and his heart clenches painfully.    
  
He did the right thing. Even if it hurts.    
  
_ He did the right thing.  _   
  
That thought doesn’t help fill the void he can feel widening in his chest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case I didn't manage to make it clear, or you have some doubts:   
> In this AU I imagined Kate Argent to have been Derek's girlfriend in the past. They dated for six months and Derek was head over heels gone on her. But Kate wanted to exact revenge on the Hale family, since Derek's parents run a huge prestigious law firm, so I imagine Kate had some vendetta against them for some reason. The reason is unimportant (in my opinion, hence why i didn't think of one). But anyways, Kate decides after Derek proposed that enough was enough and snapped, lighting the house on fire. 
> 
> Derek sees Kate and tries to stop her before she lights the fire, but she ignores him. He calls the police and tries to get all his family out. His little sister Cora was still asleep so his mom went to get her but she tripped and injured her ankle. She handed Cora to Derek´s Dad but she almost dies there in the fire, and one of her legs is severely burned after that. 
> 
> So that's what happened. Derek is understandably bitter about it. And he's also bad with feelings.


	13. Day One, I Need a Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fixin' the problem  
> dontcha worry  
> ITS FLUFF AFTER THIS

_**DAY 1 (CHRISTMAS EVE)** _

  
  
Derek didn’t sleep until way early in the morning. Thinking about everything. He was still trying to convince himself he did the right thing. Stiles was just maybe trying to help. He saw Derek was broken and he tried to fix it, because he was good at fixing so many other things. But Derek was just hurting himself by believing Stiles actually cared. Stiles didn’t, not really, not beyond their companionship.   
  
At about nine in the morning he dragged his ass out of bed, some stupid part of him kind of hoping to find Stiles on the couch. But he didn’t. All he found was his empty apartment.   
  
He’s so pathetic he even opens the door. But the Jeep isn’t there, of course it isn’t. He told Stiles to fuck off yesterday and Stiles did. What the hell did he expect?   
  
He looks down by chance and sees a purple box, sitting to one side of the front step. He picks it up.   
  
There’s a post-it on the front, and his heart skips a beat when he recognizes Stiles’ handwriting.   
  
‘You don’t have to open it if you don’t want to. I just thought you might like it. -Stiles’

  
Derek sighs, closing his eyes and going back inside with the box under his arm. His jaw working, he puts the package on the counter and glares at it. Why did Stiles even bother?   
  
“Fuck it,” he says and opens the box. Inside, he finds a snow globe. It had a small snowy Forest inside, and a clearing/small cliff, just like Derek’s spot up in the forest. There’s a small wolf too, howling. It looks fluffy and gleeful as it is, perched on top of the hill. Derek looks at the trinket, his mind going blank.   
  
There was a small piece of paper on the bottom, neatly written in black:   
  
‘People say love is something you only need to get right once. They don’t tell you, though, that you have to get it wrong lots of times before that.   
  
I don’t know what happened to you, Der. But whatever it was, I wish I could take it away. You always look more handsome when you smile.   
  
Love, Stiles.   
  
P.s I named the snow-globe wolf “Sourwolf Jr” I hope that’s ok :p’

  
Derek stares at that little note for what feels like hours. Then he gets his phone out, presses one, and puts the phone to his ear “Laura? I need your help. I think I just messed up... big time...”   
  
———   
  
“You idiot! You motherfucking idiot! Do you have _any_ fucking idea what you did?!” Laura is irate, yelling at Derek with a red face, her hands going through her hair like she’d rather pull it off than listen to Derek another second.   
  
“I-“ Derek tries.   
  
“No you don’t, of fucking course. You know, for a decently smart person, you sure like to play stupid. I could hit you right now” Derek sighs.   
  
“I just-“ Derek tries again but Laura is not over, apparently.   
  
“He’s in love with you. So fucking stupid for you he literally spent all his fucking vacation days trying to humor and entertain you. He’s been trying for months, Derek, fucking months, to work up the nerve to ask you out. Months! He’s been nothing but a great friend to you and you fucking go and not only break his heart but tell him to fuck off?!” Derek closes his eyes.   
  
“He told you?” Derek asks. “He told you all that?”   
  
Laura glares at him harder “Yes, Derek. He told me three months ago that he was in love with you. And he proceeded to tell me again and again every day he went in the shop. And now he’s spending Christmas alone and with a broken heart. Fucking great!”   
  
Derek hides his face on his hands. He fucked up so bad. He just wanted to relieve Stiles from whatever weird obligation was pushing him to do this. He didn’t want to enjoy the holidays because he felt guilty, but mostly, he didn’t want to admit to himself he was falling in love again, because he was too afraid of getting his heart broken. And he went and did just that to Stiles. Beautiful, kind Stiles that just wanted to make Derek fucking happy for a change. That just wanted to prove to Derek that he _did_ care.   
  
“I’m an idiot,” Derek mutters in his hands, and Laura actually takes a couple of breaths before kneeling in front of him, taking his hands away from his face.   
  
“You are. But I love you. And he probably still does” she says, and Derek snorts because, yeah, right.   
  
Laura scowls “Listen to me you moron. He’s been babbling non-stop about how much he loved you for the last three months to me. If anyone knows anything here is me, ok?” She says, and at Derek’s desperate face, her own softens and she takes him between her hands “I know why you did what you did, Der. I do. But you should know by now we still don’t blame you for what happened. If anything, mom loves you even more now. We don’t blame you because it wasn’t your fault. None of us saw it coming. None of us suspected a thing. Mom got hurt and it was a close call, but we all survived. And that’s what’s important. And you falling in love isn’t gonna go like that again. I can guarantee you that. Stiles has a brain so big he could take over the world overnight, but he likes comic books and Disney movies. He’s a good soul. And a good man. Just like you.”   
  
Derek looks at Laura, trying to find a lie in her words but he doesn’t see it. He wants to believe her. “How do I fix it?”   
  
Laura sighs “You messed up, little bro...” she says as she stands up again. “I can’t tell you what to do. But whatever you’re gonna do, you have to do it quick. And despite everything, you know Stiles better than anyone. You gotta figure out how to fix this. I can help if you want... mom will forgive me for going home late if I tell her I helped you two finally get together,” she chuckles. Derek smiles softly.   
  
“You think he’ll even take me?” Derek asks I’m a small voice. Afraid of the answer.   
  
“Honestly? I don’t know, Der. But you’ll be damned if you don’t try”   
  
———   
  
The plan is simple. Laura will pretend she very urgently needs a ride home (which is a four hour drive in total), to get there in time. If Stiles asks why Derek can’t take her, she’ll say it’s because Derek’s Camaro failed that morning. It’s not like Stiles is gonna call to check. Not when Laura is anxiously pleading at him to take her.   
  
And because Stiles has a big heart, he takes Laura to Beacon Hills at 8 pm.

So Derek gets inside Stiles' place with Laura's key (why she has a key, Derek doesn't know), and sighs, looking at the walls and the lack of decoration. Derek has exactly four hours to get his plan in motion.   
  
———   
  
Stiles doesn’t try to talk to Laura during the ride, he doesn’t try to ask Laura about Derek or anything. He doesn’t even turn on the radio to that classic rock station he usually likes so much. Laura just hopes Derek gets to fix this.   
  
When she gets out of the car, she leans into the window and smiles “Good luck” she tells him. Stiles looked confused, but Laura figured he was gonna need it.   
  
———   
  
When Derek finally hears the Jeep parking in the driveway, he tries to get in position. This had to work, it had to because Derek couldn’t lose Stiles. Not like this. Not after everything.   
  
It’s one minute before midnight when Derek hears the key enter the lock. He takes a deep breath. _He can do this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clllllliiiiiifffffhhhhaaaaannngggeeerrrrr


	14. Christmas Day, I Found My Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HAVE THE FLUFF

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to Kayla, because that awesome bitch helped me make of this mess a proper fic.

_**CHRISTMAS DAY** _

  
  
The door clicks open and Derek presses the button. The familiar guitar from The Rolling Stones filling the room. He can hear Stiles jump and whisper “What the fuck?” As he nears his living room, where Derek installed the lights they had both put up before at Derek’s place. Along with it, Derek had decorated the rest of the place with the tree and ornaments he still had in his house. Everything put together to form a small scene of coziness.    
  
As Stiles nears the center of the room, just looking at the lights, Derek walks out from behind a wall, giving a small smile as Stiles turned to him eyes wary “Derek? Wha-“    
  
Derek turned the volume of the song down, so he could speak. “You know how, when you’re scared, you make bad decisions?” He starts as he takes a step forward “I made a really bad decision Stiles...”   
  
Stiles shakes his head a bit in surprise “What?”    
  
Derek smiles sadly “I’ve never been in love... after Kate. I never thought I would... I promised myself. I didn’t count on this spiky-haired, big-mouthed, smartass to catch my eye... but you did.” he says shrugging. Stiles’ eyes go wide, holding and twisting a scarf between his hands.    
  
“B-But you said...”    
  
“I know... and I’m so sorry. Stiles, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And you’re amazing and kind and I- I said everything I did yesterday because I was scared it was gonna be the same with us... I’m just scared of it going badly, and I didn’t want to lose what we had,” Stiles’ brow furrows “I told you why I hated Christmas... but, everything we did? Fighting in the snow and singing in the living room and staying up late placing these friggin’ lights? That’s probably the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” he says and takes another step forward. Stiles’ hands are still tightly winded around the scarf, but he’s smiling a bit now. So Derek takes that and keeps pushing forward.    
  
“I think I’m in love with you. And I’m sorry I tried so hard to push you away,” he finishes.    
  
Stiles’ eyes jump between his, and they stay quiet for a few moments, until finally Stiles speaks up “So you freaked out?”    
  
“I- yeah,” Derek admits.    
  
“But I’m not Kate,” Stiles declares firmly.    
  
Derek closes his eyes “No, of course not.”    
  
Stiles nods once “Yeah, because I’m actually in love with you, too.”   
  
Derek’s breath comes out at once.    
  
Stiles takes a step forward “And that means you’re not my pity project...” another step “And I’m _not_ gonna fuck off.”    
  
Stiles is now close enough to touch, but Derek doesn’t dare break the moment. It seems so fragile in his mind. Like if he breathes too sharply he might wake up and realize it was a dream or something. Stiles sways forward “Are you planning on kissing me any time soon? Or are you just waiting for me to do it?”    
  
Derek laughs down, shakes his head and closes the space, enough to cup Stiles’ cheek and angle him upwards to slot their mouths together.    
  
Stiles’ lips were soft, they moved swiftly against Derek’s, and Derek just knew he was now addicted to this. To Stiles. He wanted all of it. He wanted dates in the snow, and lying around in the apartment, and maybe wake up cuddling Stiles in the morning, in his bed.    
  
Stiles’ teeth gently nipped at Derek’s bottom lip, and Stiles pulled away, just enough to rest their foreheads together. Stiles wound up his arms around Derek’s neck, his eyes still closed as he murmured “I’m sorry for pushing you... a-and I’m sorry for what happened with your mom and the fire I-“   
  
Derek kisses him again “It wasn’t your fault, Stiles, you don’t need to apologize.”    
  
Stiles looked him in the eye “It wasn’t your fault either.”    
  
Derek sighed. He was working on that one. Had been for years. But maybe now he actually wanted to believe it. “Thank you” Derek murmurs, hiding his face on Stiles’ neck and kissing lightly there.    
  
“What for?” Stiles asks, hugging Derek tighter.    
  
“For caring.”    
  
Stiles smiled and pulled Derek’s face up, kissing him again. This time a deep, slow slide of lips and tongues that teetered on the edge of heated.    
  
Neither of them actually said it. But it was a Merry Christmas indeed. One of many to come.    


 

*********

 

_**[LATER ON] CHRISTMAS DAY** _

  
  
After they spent an hour making out in the middle of Stiles’ living room, Derek had pulled away and declared he had to go home. Naturally, Stiles had other ideas as to go they could pass the time until it was Christmas Morning (and not Christmas night/too-early-morning). Derek had laughed amused and, he could admit it now, a little turned on. Stiles’ hooded whiskey eyes and soft smirk and upturned nose were nothing if not enticing.    
  
But Derek felt like he owed Stiles something more than just a love confession and enthusiastic sex (because if Stiles was involved, it was gonna be enthusiastic as fuck). Stiles repeating over and over that he forgave Derek and that it was ok did nothing to help his cause, instead getting Derek to admit he wanted to take things slow and “do it right this time”. Stiles dropped the matter, if only because with his heart melted he really couldn’t think anymore.    
  
But Stiles did ask Derek to stay, and Derek did. And that’s how on Christmas morning, Stiles finds himself in bed with the best Christmas present ever, and he didn’t have to get up to go look for it. In fact, it was wrapped all around him and snoring softly and Stiles wouldn’t have it any other way.    
  
He kissed Derek’s sleeping face once. Just because he could. And then stared while the older man slept, like the creepy ass fucker he was. Although he preferred the term ‘sap’.    
  
He thought about everything that had happened. He’d had the best Christmas season he’d ever had with Derek. Everything they did in the past twelve days had a very special place in his heart and he smiled at the many memories. Derek had seemed relaxed towards the end, happy, like he was enjoying himself.    
  
Up until he wasn’t. The words that had stung the most was Derek saying “we’re only colleagues”. It’s true that their relationship stared a bit on the rocky side, namely because Derek thought he was a completely incompetent and talkative kid. But once he proved himself useful he and Derek had developed one of the best friendships he’d ever had. And hearing Derek say they weren’t more than some kind of business partners had hurt. The hopes he’d had were crushed by those few words, and he felt alone once again in the big city. But having heard what happened to Derek, he really couldn’t blame the guy. As much as he’d wanted to the day before, he just couldn’t muster up any anger towards Derek, more like some kind of quiet resignation. Thad the worse feeling anyone could ever have.    
  
The Laura showed up and asked him to go to Beacon Hills and he’d felt so tired and angry and upset, all the emotions boiling under his skin. He still gave Laura a lift, he wasn’t heartless. At least one of them was gonna have a Merry Christmas this year.    
  
Coming back had been the hardest part. He’d felt adrift, lost. Alone. He was practically mourning not only the loss of a friend, but the loss of something he’d longed for for months.    
  
And then he opened the door. And Derek was standing there and Stiles felt kind of pathetic because the only thing he wanted to do when he first saw him was hug him again, tell his it was gonna be ok. He’d expected nothing more. But Derek was saying that he was in love with Stiles and the latter almost choked on his own hopes and dreams as they all came rushing through him again, renewed. He could have this. He could have Derek.    
  
And now Derek was there, cuddling Stiles in his sleep, and Stiles couldn’t believe his luck. It wasn’t unrequited like he’d thought all those months before, it wasn’t a shot in the dark, it was real. He poked Derek’s cheek for good measure. Yup. Real.    
  
Derek grunted and burrowed his face under Stiles’ neck, and the younger man’s smile grew wider. _Very real_.    
  
For once he had no overcomplicated plan for courtship, no 12 steps to win the guy of his fucking dreams, nothing. And he was ok with that. They were gonna go slow and wing it together. And of course they were gonna fuck up, but Stiles could already see a house and 2.5 kids in the back of his mind.    
  
He’d never done things half-way. And this wasn’t gonna be any different. So with that though in mind, he kissed Derek’s hairline and went back to sleep. They didn’t have to rush for anything today.    
  
———   
  
“Stiiiiiles” Derek was shaking him awake, and Stiles couldn’t help but think this was some kind of revenge.    
  
“Wha-who- Derek?” Stiles rubbed the sleep from his eyes, blinking a couple times to focus on Derek and the half smile that was on his face.    
  
“Breakfast” Derek says, pointing at the bedside table where there’s a plate with bacon and eggs and toast. “Clothes” And he points to the foot of the bed, where there’s some of Stiles’ clothes neatly folded. “Hurry up” He ends with, slapping Stiles’ thigh softly as he stands up.    
  
“Ok, Caveman Sourwolf, but you’re missing one thing” Stiles says, sitting up and waving for Derek to come closer.    
  
Derek tilts his head in confusion, like the little adorable puppy he is and comes closer. Stiles reaches for his shirt and drags him down for a chaste kiss. “Morning” he smiles, and with that he stands up, stretches a bit, and goes for the bathroom, leaving a dumbstruck Derek still leaning over the empty bed.    
  
When Stiles emerges from his room, ready to go wherever Derek’s taking him today, he finds Derek talking on the phone. He only catches the end of the conversation on Derek’s side “-just give us an hour and we’ll be there. Thank you for waiting.... Thank you, sir... “ and the phone call ended. Derek turned around and found Stiles eyeing him suspiciously.    
  
“Look, I love surprises, but that was one suspicious as hell call. Where do we have to be in an hour?” Stiles asks, zipping up his hoodie and getting his beanie on his head.    
  
Derek smiles and approached him, wrapping his arms around Stiles waist and dragging him in for a kiss. Stiles was more than a little winded when they parted, and then Derek says “None of your business”    
  
Stiles huffs, but Derek just grabs his hand and walks him outside. Stiles feels the hum of anticipation on his gut.    
  
———   
  
“But seriously, Der, where are we going” Stiles asks, trying to blindly grab for his bottle of coke.    
  
Derek sighed once again “We’re just going for a drive”    
  
Stiles takes a gulp of his drink, “See, I’d believe you, but then you blindfolded me. I don’t know what kind of kinks you’re into but this is a weird one”    
  
Derek kept quiet and Stiles smiled slyly “You’re blushing, aren’t you? Tell me you’re blushing. You’re so cute when you blush” he could say this things now. He was allowed. Because Derek was his _boyfriend_   
  
Derek replies by smashing the breaks while Stiles is taking another gulp, almost making him choke. After some coughing Stiles mutters “Asshole”, But the warm hand that finds his after that and intertwines their fingers is enough to shut him up. For a while. Like five minutes.    
  
The minutes went by and Derek and Stiles bantered as usual, talked about silly stuff and deep stuff with the same enthusiasm, and with the bonus of their hands tightly held together.    
  
“Fine. I’m not gonna al where we’re going, I just wanna know if we’re there yet?” Stiles sighed.    
  
“We’re like five minutes away” Derek replies, giving Stiles’ hand a small squeeze. “Are you getting sick?”    
  
Stiles smiles “Nah, I’m getting hungry. We should go to McDonalds or something”    
  
Derek snorts. “Sure we can have some food when we get there”.    
  
Stiles smiles widely “AHA! So there’s food where we’re going! Ohmaigahd are you taking me to Disneyland? A mall? A beach?! A mall on a beach!”    
  
Derek chuckles “Yes Stiles, I’m taking you to a mall on a beach, how did you figure it out” he deadpans.    
  
“I’m a natural Sherlock Holmes that’s how” Stiles replies, chuckling too.    
  
The car suddenly stopped and Derek helped him out of the car, insisting that Stiles kept the blindfold I’m as he was directed... somewhere.    
  
Stiles was babbling about how it sounded like there was a lot of people and constantly trying to guess where they where, and Derek (bless his soul) just heard him out and chuckled, even kissing his cheek once when Stiles was assured that no, they weren’t in Disneyland. Derek did promise to take him though. So Stiles was alright with that.    
  
They finally stopped and Stiles tried to sniff the air “It doesn’t smell like a beach...” he mutters.    
  
“Missed you too, son” comes his Dad’s voice and Stiles rips the blindfold off. His dad and Melissa are both standing there, baggage in hand and tired smiles on their faces. Stiles smiled and tackle-hugged his dad “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t gonna be able to get a flight back until the 29th?” He says, trying not to let his eyes water too much.    
  
His dad chuckles, hugging back tightly, they hadn’t seen each other in months. “Derek here helped get us some seats on a flight back last night. It was a bit of a long flight but we’re here. Merry Christmas, son”    
  
Stiles laughed excitedly, hugging Melissa as well and then turning to Derek “You did this?”    
  
Derek shrugs, looking down “I called my mom, asked if she could make it happen... and she did, it was nothing rea-“    
  
Stiles went in to kiss Derek’s stupidly handsome face. For a man that hated Christmas, he sure knew how to give the best presents. He brought Christmas back to Stiles. Oh my god.    
  
Derek _was_ the Grinch!     
  
His dad cleared his throat behind them. “Dad! Not cool!” Stiles whines, kissing Derek once more before pulling away. The soft smile on Derek’s face mixed with the blush made Stiles’ heart stutter.    
  
“I’m happy for you, Stiles. That doesn’t mean I wanna see you two making out in the middle of an airport”. Stiles laughs, grabbing Derek’s hand in one hand, and some of the luggage in the other   
  
“Let’s go! I gotta make Christmas lunch or something. Christmas dinner! Shit I didn’t prepare anything!” Melissa and his dad both chuckle    
  
“We can help”    
  
Stiles turns to Derek “Are- Would you stay? For dinner?”    
  
Derek seems to think it for all of yo seconds before leaning in and kissing his temple “Yeah. Yeah I’ll stay...” The meaning of the words not lost between them. 

  
Stiles smiles, and excitedly turns to his dad and Melissa, “Oh my god, you guys, I have _so_ much to tell you! I had like, the best Christmas ever! It all started...” 

  
  
**_Fin_**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sorry. Not about the puns in the titles or anything else. Thanks for reading though! If you spot grammar mistakes, please, please, PLEASE let me know. Nothing kills a mood like badly written fanfic amirite?  
> But seriously, I'm a spanish speaker so my english grammar may have some flaws here and there, feel free to leave a comment.

**Author's Note:**

> THANKS FOR READING MY BABY! HAPPY NEW YEARS YALL


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